The Great Marcus Caper
by puppyloveclub
Summary: Sam has moved back to Tennessee and Mercedes has gotten close to Marcus, but things aren't always as they appear to be.
1. Chapter 1

Part I

Mercedes felt her phone vibrate with a text in her pocket as she placed her Calculus book into her locker.

"_Been thinking about you all afternoon and I can_'_t stop smiling._"

She sighed and grabbed her backpack before slamming her locker shut. She watched Marcus slowly approach from down the hall.

"Hi there," she smiled at him.

"Hey gorgeous," he beamed back and pulled her into a hug, "How was math?"

"Boring as hell, but it's Friday. Walk me to Glee Club?"

"Of course," he said as she linked her arm through his and they began walking down the hall. "You still coming to my Auntie's party tomorrow?" he asked slightly nervously.

"Yeah, I'll be there," she answered, squeezing his arm, "3 o'clock right?"

He nodded and turned to face her as they reached the choir room door. It was propped open and Mercedes could tell by the noise level that most of the club was already inside. She smiled up at Marcus for a moment as he breathed out anxiously.

She leaned up to kiss his cheek softly, and, leaving her hands on his shoulders, told him, "Don't be nervous. I'm sure it will go well. I'm excited!"

"Thanks. I'm really glad you're coming," he replied, "Now get in there and show that Rachel biddy who's getting the solos this year!"

She just grinned knowingly at him and entered the room, turning to wave before she took a seat in the first row.

"Well, look at you two! Seems to be moving along nicely," Rachel immediately gushed behind her. Mercedes didn't respond.

Santana chimed in, "Who knew there was such a big hunk of chocolate hiding in the Titan's offensive line? It's a good thing I'm off boys, Mercy, or I might be mixing up some caramel cocoa." There was snickering around the room.

"Everyone, just stop," Mercedes rolled her eyes.

Puck and Lauren made their way into the choir room, completing the club's roster.

"Hey Mama," Puck called out as he climbed into the back row of chairs, fingers linked with Lauren's, "I saw Marcus on his way out. I hear you're meeting his family tomorrow."

Lauren sat down next to him and added, "I hope he's paying you back with the _good_ lovin'."

The muffled laughter resumed then Puck continued, basically announcing to the entire club, "I've heard reports of three separate Breadstix dates in the last few weeks," he paused dramatically, "That's serious. The 'stix means love."

"Ya'll need to mind your own damn business," Mercedes proclaimed loudly, turning around to make eye contact with the main instigators. Her eyes fell on Kurt whom she realized was uncharacteristically quiet. He shot her a suspicious glare just as Mr. Schuester entered the room to begin rehearsal.

As they walked through the choreography for "Under Pressure," Mercedes ended up positioned next to her best friend. She was grateful for this, feeling like they barely spent time together anymore. He was with Blaine every chance he got and Mercedes did spend a lot of time with Marcus. Rehearsal halted and everyone waited while Mike went over a moderately tricky dance step with Finn for the ten thousandth time.

"Can you believe we're doing another Queen song? I was sure we had exhausted their catalog," Mercedes joked to Kurt but he replied with another incredulous glare just as her phone vibrated in her back pocket. She read it quickly.

"_Call me later, pretty girl?_"

Mercedes kept her chin tucked into her chest but smiled widely quickly typing back, "_Of course."_ When she lifted her head up, she realized Kurt had been watching her every move. His gaze was intensified.

"I don't know what's going on with you, Mercedes Jones," he began at a decibel slightly above whisper, "but I know there is _something_ going on with you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she told him, turning towards the circle that had formed around Finn after Mr. Schuester took over the choreography lesson.

"Listen, Finn," the teacher said authoritatively, "Since Sam transferred, we need you to be able to own this male lead role more than ever and that means getting this dancing down."

Mercedes watched Finn nod, clearly embarrassed, and then she turned back to Kurt who now had his arms crossed over his chest.

"Mercedes," he said to her. "I know everyone is just captivated by this thing between you and Marcus but I know you. And I don't see it. The way you look at him. Hell, the way he looks at you... Something's not there."

Mercedes' eyes widened in surprise and confusion.

"He's not your type. At all..." Kurt raised his hand to stop her before she could speak, adding, "Don't pretend like I don't know what kind of guys you go for." She blinked slowly, as Kurt went on, "I don't know what this is, but I just hope you're not settling. Because you deserve a guy who not only worships you but who you're crazy about."

"Kurt..." she started to respond, but Mr. Schue clapped loudly to direct people back into formation.

Kurt quietly finished his thought, "I know that you two have some sort of connection, but I don't think Marcus is 'the one' for you."

She didn't say anything, just hugged him quickly before Mr. Schue started the number from the top.

After rehearsal, Mercedes had not even pulled out of the school parking lot before she dialed her Blackberry and set it to speaker phone.

A deep voice greeted her, "Hi, Baby."

"Hi..." She purred girlishly, pausing for a second just to savor his velvety tone before she remembered the urgent issue at hand, "Kurt's onto us."

"You know what I was just thinking about? Remember that time I made you put on your Frank-N-Furter costume for me and then your dad walked in and-"

"Sam! This is serious! He's going to figure everything out!"

"What did he say?"

"He said he knows Marcus 'isn't my type' and he doesn't think I'm 'all that into him.'"

"You do have that notorious weakness for blondes..."

There was a shrieking whistle and then "Evans!" Mercedes could clearly hear an angry-sounding man in the background, "Get your ass on the field!"

"Sorry, Mercy," Sam said quickly, "I'm late for football practice. I'll talk to later, okay?"

"Sure," she breathed, "Be safe out there."

After dinner with her parents and a couple hours of homework, Mercedes laid across the top of her bed, trying to figure out how the hell her life got here. This wasn't the senior year she saw coming. She was dating the most amazing boy she knew and everyone thought it was Marcus.

The truth is that Sam introduced Mercedes to Marcus months ago. When he first started at McKinley, Marcus had been the first guy on the football team to reach out and befriend Sam. Marcus was a quiet guy in school, very different from his take-no-prisoners attitude on the Titan's offensive line.

Throughout the drama with Quinn and Santana, he had Sam's back and they spent a lot of time in Marcus' driveway playing basketball. Marcus was always around but never really got invested or involved in the relationship frenzy that pulsed through McKinley's halls. Maybe that was why he seemed to fade into the background most of the time. But Sam really liked him. He was a good guy and he never minded that Sam was into things like comics and sci-fi.

When Sam's family lost their house, Marcus was actually the first person Sam told. Marcus ended up getting Sam a job delivering pizzas for the Domino's where he worked part-time and swore to keep the whole situation under wraps, which he did.

One night in early spring, Sam and Marcus were the last two people left at the restaurant. As they were finishing the clean-up process, Marcus stopped Sam in his tracks, like a boulder in his path.

"Sam," he said to him, "You know how I'm keeping this big secret for you and your family?"

"Uh, yeah..." Sam answered, not sure where he was going with this.

"Well, I was wondering if I could tell you a secret. It's something I haven't told anyone but I feel like I can trust you with it and I want to tell you," Marcus said.

"Sure, buddy" Sam responded with a smile, "What is it?"

Marcus looked him in the eyes for about three seconds and said, "I'm gay."

Admittedly surprised but not uncomfortable or offended, Sam just smiled and resumed wiping off the counter next to them, "Thanks for telling me, man."

When Sam started dating Mercedes in May, he introduced her to Marcus right away. He knew that Marcus would take their covert relationship to the grave, if necessary.

Mercedes would always remember the conversation they had in the car on the way to meet Marcus that first time:

"I can't believe I've never really talked to Marcus. He's been in my grade for all these years but I don't see him around much outside of the occasional class," she told Sam.

"Yeah, he's pretty quiet," Sam explained, "But you'll like him. He's a great guy. One of my best friends in Lima."

"Did Quinn and Santana know him?" Mercedes asked.

"Nah, not really," he said, his hands grasping the wheel of his dad's old pick-up, "I was always worried about what they'd say to him and I think, deep down, I was worried about what he'd think of me for dating them."

"But I'm different?" she asked timidly.

Sam took his eyes off the road for just a moment to look at his girlfriend in the passenger seat, "Yes," he whispered.

Mercedes and Marcus became fast friends. He had a gentleness about him that reminded her of what she loved in Sam and she could see why their friendship was so natural.

They discovered that they had a lot of family friends in common. Lima's African-American community was pretty tight-knit and both of their families were devout Christians, though they went to different churches.

One Saturday evening, about a month after Nationals, Sam, Mercedes, and Marcus were hanging out in his driveway while the boys shot hoops. Suddenly and in the middle of a conversation, Marcus came out to Mercedes. She hugged him for what had to have been five minutes. Sam let them have a moment, taking the time to work on his jump-shot.

"Who knows?" she eventually whispered to Marcus.

"Just Sam," he smiled as he gestured to her boyfriend who grinned at Mercedes, obviously happy to not have to keep this secret from her any longer.

When Sam ran inside to grab some sodas, Mercedes and Marcus sat on the open hatch of Sam's truck and swung their legs over the side. She asked him why it was that he chose to come out to Sam before anyone else.

Marcus told her, without a hint of pretense, "Sam is the most open-hearted person I know." He knew that Sam would never use the secret to hurt Marcus or let him anyone else hurt him. Then Marcus told her, "Maybe this is selfish of me, but I know that I have some hard times ahead and that Sam will always have my back."

She smiled, grabbed Marcus' hand, giving it a little squeeze, and told him, "If you ever need anything, I'm here for you, too. He's not the only one with your back. Sam and I will always be here for you."

Looking back, she could almost laugh at that choice of words because the next day, Sam's parents broke the news to him that his mother got a job offer at her old company in Nashville. They were moving back.

Sam and Mercedes had about 3 weeks to say goodbye, which certainly wasn't enough but was better than a week or a day or an hour. Mercedes tried to spend every moment that she could soaking up his touch. She knew he could love her from Tennessee, but he couldn't hold her.

Her parents let Sam stay over sometimes during those last days. Well, they let him stay in a tent in the backyard. Sam would show up with his old sleeping bag and set up the tent while Mercedes lit a solitary citronella candle. They would sit out on the lawn of her backyard for hours. Most nights they would end up nestled together in the sleeping bag, singing or kissing or just looking at up at the stars. Eventually, Mercedes' dad would turn on the back porch light, signaling her to come inside and go to bed. Sam would walk her to the back door and kiss her like this was it. Like this was goodbye.

Maybe these practice goodbyes made the real one possible. Maybe the rehearsals made it possible for her to watch him drive away that rainy morning in the end of August. It wasn't easy, but they got through it because they both knew that like all the others, this wasn't their last goodbye.

And suddenly it was a month later. Mercedes was wrapped up in this tangled web a deception with the boy who needed her help and the boy who had her heart.

Thanks to all the modern methods of communication young people utilized, Sam and Mercedes found a way to be in nearly continuous contact. They texted each other constantly. Sometimes, Mercedes was amazed that no one caught on. She was amazed but not shocked. Before Sam left, they would sneak away during Glee outings. They probably spent half of the New York trip in a housekeeping closet down the hall from their hotel rooms. But no one ever noticed a thing. One day, Sam pointed out that maybe the insane Glee drama that he and Mercedes were trying to stay away from was what kept the others from catching onto their secret.

Sam, Mercedes, and Marcus built up this elaborate house of cards and every day she woke up completely anxious about it falling down. But then she would get a text or an email or a world-famous Sammy singing voicemail as he, without even trying, made it all okay again by loving her so fearlessly.

Love. In high school. What a concept. They hadn't said the word aloud but Mercedes knew it was there. It was there in the way he smiled at her. It was there in the way she dreamt of him. But it was most obvious in the music. When they sang, there was something that she had never felt with another person. This feeling, whatever it was, made Mercedes so incredibly happy and just a little bit afraid.

That night, Mercedes had just closed her eyes for a moment when her phone beeped on her nightstand with a text from Sam.

"_Skype?"_

She replied quickly, jumping over to the laptop on her desk. After a few clicks, there he was, across her computer screen, smiling. Always smiling.

"God, you're gorgeous," was the first thing he said.

"Oh stop," she flirted, shaking her head, but eating it up. They spent so much time trading font and voices, but she craved his eyes on her.

"Never!" he avowed loudly, "How was your day? How was Glee? Tell me the tale of how Kurt caught onto The Great Marcus Caper."

She chucked and shook her head at his old timey vernacular.

"No?" he questioned, reading her reaction, "So that's a no on 'caper'? How about 'masquerade'? 'Con'? 'Hoax'? 'SWINDLE'?" When she just stared at him, he nodded, "Yeah, we can solidify the name later..."

"Sure. From Tennessee," she said, "this is an exciting ruse to name and laugh about-"

"Ooo, 'ruse,'" he said somewhat under his breath, "I like that one."

"But for those of us involved in Lima," she continued, "It's a bit of a stressful situation."

"I'm sorry, baby," Sam smiled, "You're right. So what happened?"

"Marcus walked me to Glee today and of course that sent the entire club into a gossip tizzy."

"They love a good scandal," he conceded.

"I know we are doing this on purpose, but... it's working almost too well. I haven't told one person in Glee that I'm _dating_ Marcus. No, we haven't denied anything, either, but we're not kissin' in the halls!" Mercedes felt a rant coming on, and didn't hold back, "We're helping Marcus deal with his family drama and that spills over into school, but the Glee kids should know me, Sam. And frankly, I'm offended. Apparently, everyone is totally comfortable accepting the assumption that the two big, black teens will fall for each other."

"Mercedes, have I told you how fantastic you look tonight?" Sam interjected before she started to fume.

"Sammy!" she laughed, "You've seen these pajamas like 30 times. And we are not changing the subject to my beauty just yet, mister! I'm trying to vent here!" Mercedes giggled again then continued, calmer this time, "But I already know what you're thinking. We're doing this because Marcus needs me. Needs us."

Sam smiled lovingly and nodded. Mercedes went on, "I shouldn't _want_ anyone to figure out the secret because I don't want Marcus getting hurt. But to be honest, I think I love Kurt a little more for seeing it. That Marcus isn't 'the one' for me."

"He would be the guy to catch on," Sam agreed, "So what do you want to do? Tell him or let him unravel this great mystery on his own?"

"I'll talk to Marcus," she began, thinking out loud, "Kurt would keep the secret, especially if he knew the whole situation. And it would be nice to have someone to talk to about _you_..." She smiled slyly into her webcam.

"Girl talk," Sam acknowledged with a smirk, "We all need it sometimes..."

"Are you _talking up_ many girls these days, Mr. Evans?" Mercedes asked, one eyebrow raised up high.

"Nah... pickins' are slim around here. It's a damn shame," he answered bluntly.

Sam was enrolled in the same all-boys private school he attended before McKinley. When it became a reality that the Evans would be returning to Nashville, Mercedes pretty much filled out the entire Financial Assistance Scholarship application for Sam, knowing it would be best option for him academically, but also not hating the idea of no girls in sight. She knew it was silly and she trusted Sam completely but she also knew how wonderful he was and that someone in that city was bound to catch on. Rather than boarding at school, this time he was commuting across the city from his family's new apartment. It made the most sense financially and allowed Sam to be home more often with his siblings.

"Want to know why I wish I went to school with girls? For real?" he asked her softly.

"Okay," she nodded, with a touch of trepidation.

"Because if I had girls to be friends with, they'd be much more likely to let me gush about this amazing girl in Ohio that I'm thinking about every minute of the day. The guys?" he smirked and shook his head twice, "Not a chance. I've tried! Teenage boys are apparently not even interested in the most epic of love stories. We're not great listeners, I've learned... Pass my apology along to the girls for that, will ya?"

"Which girls?" she giggled.

"All of them. All girls." he answered, matter-of-factly.

Mercedes actually reached out and touched his face on the computer screen, "I miss you so much, Sam. I am dying to be near you so I can clamp down and not let go. And I'll gladly listen to you gush about this girl. She sounds great," she winked.

"Oh, she's the best and I can't wait to see her again. In real life... where she can't escape my lovin'," he replied, barely containing his huge smile, "I'm picturing you, me, your dad's tent, my ratty old sleeping bag, and the stars. What do you think?"

"Sounds amazing," she sighed deeply and looked at the alarm clock next to her, "But I should probably go now. I have a Physics test tomorrow."

"Mercedes?" Sam asked in an exaggeratedly innocent way, "Will you sing me our song first?"

"We don't have a song," she answered quickly.

"You know what song I'm talking about..." he said emphatically.

"Sam Evans, I refuse to let that be our song!"

"But it's my favorite!" Mercedes rolled her eyes but kept smiling.

"Please, baby...It helps me sleep," he crooned.

Powerless to his charms, she gave in, "Okay I'll sing it but I will NOT be singing this to you every night for the rest of our lives."

He laughed, "Fine... Every other night?"

"Sam!"

"Okay," he bargained, half-serious, "How about you only sing it to me when we have the State of Kentucky in between us?"

"Boy, do you want me to sing the song?"

"Yes, yes. Shutting up now," he assured her and leaned in closer, resting his chin on his right hand.

Mercedes started singing what some might consider the cheesiest song known to humanity. Sam was clearly not among those people. As ridiculous as it is, she truthfully loved singing it to him because of the look of undiluted adoration always on his face while she serenaded him, especially for this song. But she still wondered why this boy felt such an emotional connection to a cartoon mouse looking for his family.

_Somewhere out there_

_Beneath the pale moonlight_

_Someone_'_s thinking of me_

_And loving me tonight._

She sang directly into his soft green eyes until he turned to watch something behind the laptop. Stacey crawled into his lap, without a word, and snuggled close to him. Immediately, both of them were glued to Mercedes, as she made her way through Fievel's heartache. Ever so slightly, Sam rocked his body back and forth, lulling his sister in his arms like second nature.

_And even though I know how very far apart we are_

_It helps to think we might be wishing_

_On the same bright star_

As she finished the song, Mercedes just barely overheard the little girl sigh sluggishly and whisper to her brother, "I miss Mercy."

"Me too, Stace." he whispered back, eyes piercing Mercedes, even through a webcam.

Sam moved his arms from around her so he could applaud loudly and the little girl slowly joined in, yawning through a big grin.

"Beautiful as always," Sam reviewed, "Right, Stacey?"

"Right," she answered quietly.

Mercedes whispered with a smile, "Thank you, Sammy. Now you get that lady to bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, my pretty girl," he said into the computer. Stacey started to doze off against his shoulder.

"Goodnight, Stacey. Goodnight, Sam. Sweet dreams to you both."

Mercedes blew them a kiss and closed her laptop. She crawled into her bed, happy and warm.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors Note: This chapter kind of jumps all over the place, but I needed to provide some background. It includes a MASSIVE "how Sam and Mercedes got together" flashback-ish section, but I don't think you guys will mind! In my head, this has always been how they got together, so I'm happy to have finally written it out. Enjoy! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! I eat the reviews up like CANDY!

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Samcedes would alive and kickin'!

PART II

Saturday afternoon, Mercedes climbed into the driver's seat of her dad's SUV parked in her driveway. She dialed Sam's number and placed the phone in the cup-holder to her right as she buckled up and backed out of her driveway.

"Hey Mercy!" he answered cheerfully.

"Hi, baby," she cooed back, "I'm on my way to Marcus' family party and I need a pep-talk."

"You'll be amazing. You look so beautiful today," Sam told her without hesitating.

She laughed hard, throwing her head back as much as is possible while operating a motor vehicle, "Boy, what are you talking about? You can't see me."

"Well I'm imagining…" he said seductively.

"Oh, stop pervin'…" she giggled again. She was happy that he can always make her feel a little better, but still uneasy about the afternoon ahead of her. "I am nervous, Sam. Marcus is _relying_ on me…"

"Can I sing you a pep-song?"

She smiled, "Please, _please_ do. That's the only thing that will make me feel better."

"Okay, let me grab my guitar," Mercedes heard some noisy shuffling from the other end of the phone and giggled at her gawky boy.

"Alright," Sam said, after returning. He strummed the guitar a few times to develop a melody and cleared his throat before releasing a pensive, "Hmmm," then began…

_You are so beautiful,_

_Your heart is made of gold,_

_Oh Mercy, my hero,_

_You'll have them all sold._

_Who could help but love you?_

_No one in his right mind,_

_Oh Mercy, my hero,_

_Marcus has quite the find._

Mercedes laughed hard at that line, but cut herself off quickly so she wouldn't miss any of his song.

_One glimpse of your bright smile,_

_They'll all be blown away,_

_Oh Mercy, my hero,_

_Promise it'll be okay._

When he finished, Mercedes affirmed his pep-abilities by vowing, "I am now prepared to do anything: Be there for Marcus. Run for President. Fight Evil in a cape and spandex."

"Ooo I like the sound of that…" Sam jumped in breathily.

"There's that pervy Sammy again."

"Oh, you _love_ Pervy Sammy," he told her then noted, "and does Pervy Sammy love you, baby"

She laughed again and turned onto Marcus' street. "You're such a boy…"

"I'm all man, Ms. Jones," he told her in his best Matthew McConaughey.

"Don't you have a brother and sister to watch your words in front of, Mr. Evans?"

"My parents took them to the park. Plus I have my own room now," he added, sighing, "I have a big empty room but not my pretty girl..."

"I know," Mercedes sighed. She didn't have the words to soothe him because she was equally saddened by this truth. "I should go now. I'm almost to Marcus' house. I just need to get up and get in there."

"That's what HE said!" Sam interjected before laughing heartily.

"Seriously. Such a boy…" Mercedes smirked, "Have a good day, Sam. I miss you already."

He groaned expressively in return and then told her, "Me, too. Good luck, pretty girl."

"Bye," she said softly and pressed _End_. Mercedes found Marcus' block already crowded with cars. He had a large extended family and today was his great-aunt's 90th birthday, so everyone would be there. She found a parking space a few houses down and turned her engine off.

Sitting back, she took a few deep breaths and thought about her Sam. Whenever she started to feel anxious or nervous or lonesome or bored, really, she replayed their story of in her head, like it was some classic romance. It always, always made her better.

It had all started the night of junior prom, she recalled. Sam, Mercedes, and Rachel, the "Glee Club leftovers" had gone to prom together in a truly thrifty fashion. With Rachel so distracted by her usual Jesse and Finn drama, Sam and Mercedes were left to fend for themselves for large portions of the night.

Looking back, Mercedes couldn't pinpoint what exactly changed between them at prom, but _something_ changed. It was almost like God lit a match so they could see each other for the first time.

From there, their friendship snowballed. They talked more and more and found themselves sitting together in Glee. Over the next few weeks, it began to seem like Sam was always around. He started bringing his siblings by every Sunday afternoon to play on the big wooden swingset in the Jones' expansive backyard. Sam would frequently show up at her house for help with his spanish or chemistry or history homework. He would call and wake her up early in the morning, begging her to come to the motel to help pick out an outfit for Stacey to wear to school. One time he showed up at her door at 11 o'clock at night to borrow a stapler. Yes, a stapler.

After that particular "Sam incident," Mercedes was standing in her kitchen, throwing together her lunch for the next day when her mom sat down at the kitchen table and chuckled.

"Baby girl," she said, "Does that boy have it bad for you..."

Mercedes shook her head quickly, "No, no. We're friends, Mama. He doesn't see me like that. His family is going through this really rough time so, he just needs a lot of help right now and I'm helping whenever I can."

"I know you are. I know you're a great friend. But you haven't had a lot of experiences with boys, Mercedes, and you haven't seen what they do when they are courting a girl or wanting to court a girl," she told her daughter, "But I promise you, Sam likes you."

Mercedes just stood and stared at her mother for a long moment. It had honestly never crossed her mind that that was what was happening.

The next day, in school, everything was different. If Prom was like God lighting a match, then this day was God flipping on a floodlight. Mercedes was sitting across from Sam at lunch while he told her stories about his crazy history teacher, Mr. Goodwin. She was having trouble concentrating on his words and she completely blamed her mother.

As she watched him talk, Mercedes could not stop looking at the movement of Sam's perfect pink lips and the way he absentmindedly pushed the soft blond hair out of his eyes every few minutes. She had never wanted to touch his hair before but here she found herself having to sit on her hands.

"I need to ask you something," she suddenly interrupted him towards the end of the lunch period.

"Okay," he grinned at her, "Anything. Shoot."

Mercedes took a long moment to gather her thoughts, avoiding eye contact by watching people walk by their table on the way out of the cafeteria. Sam waited silently. When there was finally no one around, she looked down at her hands on the table in front of her and asked him very calculatingly, "Do you like me?"

When he didn't immediately answer, she raised her eyes slowly to meet his and found him smiling at her. He opened his mouth, possibly to respond, but she cut him off nervously before he was able to do so.

"I mean," she rambled, "I mean, _I_ don't think you do, but my mom said something last night and it got me thinking and now I'm probably freaking you out, but I just had to say someth—"

"Yes," he interrupted her, "I like you, Mercedes." She stared at him with wide eyes, unable to keep her mouth closed. He laughed a little at her stunned face and went on, "I like you a lot actually. But I know you don't see me like that and it's okay."

She shook her head, suddenly embarrassed but uncertain of what she had to be embarrassed about. He grinned at her again and she relaxed a little. "It's okay because I'm going to prove to you that I'm worthy of you. And your heart. Or I want to be worthy," he rambled a bit, himself, then added, "I, Sam Evans, will be worthy of you, Ms. Mercedes Jones. And I can wait. I'll be here when you feel it."

At that, she gave him a smile, but still didn't have any words to share.

He stood and gathered up both of their trash on his lunch tray. "We should go to class. I know you don't like to be late."

She followed his lead, standing and finally answering, "Right."

Mercedes picked up her books and Sam threw his backpack over one shoulder, dumping their garbage in a big trashcan. They had classes in opposite directions and needed to close this conversation before the bell rang.

"You okay?" he asked her, his eyes showing concern.

"Yeah," she nodded quickly and involuntarily held her breath as Sam leaned in and kissed her cheek softly. She watched him turn and walk out of the cafeteria.

During the days that followed, Mercedes often found herself not knowing what to say to Sam. This was something entirely new for her. Diva as she was, she couldn't believe how completely nervous Sam suddenly made her. He probably knew, but he didn't seem to mind. He managed to _always_ get the seat next to her in Glee. He started walking Mercedes to her car after school and coming by her house with less ridiculous excuses to see her. He just wanted to be near her and she was starting to feel the same. Looking back, she's still surprised that Kurt didn't catch on to any of this. But he was busy being wrapped up in his own love story and she couldn't fault him.

For most of the time she knew Sam, Mercedes didn't allow herself to even flirt with the idea of liking him. After the Kurt crush disaster, she learned to be that way with all the boys in Glee. What was the point of letting herself like someone when they always went for Quinn or Rachel or Tina? Even when she dated Puck, it was an image thing and he never had romantic feelings for her. It wasn't self-deprecating. She knew she was fabulous, but she had pretty much given up hope that the boys in this stage of her life would ever know it, too. She had resigned herself to waiting, thinking that once she got out of Lima she would find someone who wanted _her_ most. And she was willing to wait because she knew that she was worth that adoration. She never thought that this person could be hiding right under her nose.

Sam clearly didn't want to scare her away so he didn't push too hard. He was just Sam and Mercedes was beginning to see how special that was. He was sweet to her, but he never made a move. They found themselves at an unspoken standstill. He was proving himself to her and letting her take the lead when and if she decided to be more than his friend, but she was having trouble gaining the nerve to make that move.

Then Mr. Schue brought Jesse St. James in as a Glee consultant and announced that they were holding auditions for solos at Nationals. Mercedes knew right away that she would try-out. Nationals was her dream just as much as Rachel Berry's and she knew that she could deliver something really special for her team.

After some contemplation, she settled on singing Otis Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness," one of her father's all-time favorite songs. She grew up listening and singing along to it and knew this was the song to showcase what she could do.

The day of the audition, she was hanging around after school with Kurt, Santana, and Rachel, waiting to be called into the auditorium by to audition. She wasn't nervous. She was never afraid to sing. The stage was the place she _always_ felt comfortable and powerful.

When Kurt came back to the choir room, she knew it was her turn. Without a hint of nervousness, she left the others in the room and headed confidently for the stage door. Just before she reached it, an arm grabbed her shoulder from behind. She turned to see who was following her, finding Sam. He was out of breath and wearing his pizza delivery uniform.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be working tonight?" Mercedes asked him perplexedly.

" Yeah, I'm on the clock. The car's outside," he lifted up the Pete's Pizza cap on his head and scratched the back of his golden locks, "I just wanted to tell you good luck. I know you'll be amazing. You deserve this more than anyone, Mercy."

Mercedes beamed at his confidence in her. "I should get in there. Don't want to give them any more reason to not pick me for a solo," she joked, then asked him bashfully, "Do you have time to stay? While I sing?"

"Of course," he nodded, "But it's supposed to be a 'closed audition,' so I'll just listen from backstage."

They walked toward the stage door in silence. Suddenly, for the first time in a very long time, Mercedes was nervous about performing. She wasn't sure if it was the pressure of the audition or the fact that Sam would be standing fifteen feet away, watching no one but her. She took a deep breath as he opened the big wooden door, letting her go first then following closely.

They passed through the quiet, dark backstage area. During a play or an event, this place would be teeming with people. But now it was deserted, occupied only by some music stands and a few props left unclaimed after McKinley's winter performance of _The Glass Menagerie_. The stage's old velvet curtains hung from the high ceilings and bunched into the disordered room, filling it with their wonderfully musty scent.

As the bright light of the stage came into view, Mercedes felt Sam reach down and grab her hand, interlocking their fingers. Too nervous to slow down or even look back, Mercedes just kept pushing her way through the twists and turns of the dark cavern, continuing to breathe deeply.

When they reached the threshold of the stage, Sam released her fingers and stopped. She started across the stage and turned around just long enough to see him smile brightly for her. She answered with her own smile, not just for Sam, but for Mr. Schue and Jesse and anyone else who might be there to witness it.

She nailed the song. There was no doubt about it. As her lips sang those words to the two men at the table, she knew her heart was singing them to Sam. She prayed he was listening.

_It's all so easy,_

_Come on and try,_

_Try a little tenderness._

When she finished, Mr. Schuester thanked her and sweetly reminded her how far she and the whole club had come. But then Jesse, with one foul choice of word, ruined her moment by calling her lazy.

In a fit of rage, Mercedes grabbed the microphone and stormed off the stage. Forgetting entirely that Sam was there, she walked directly into him.

"Hey," he whispered as she pushed past him, back into the shadowy backstage room.

"Hey," he said again, slightly louder, and reached out again to grab her hand from behind.

She stopped and turned to face him, thankful that the dim lighting probably hid the tears in her eyes. Sam was grinning ear-to-ear.

"Mercedes," he was so exultant he was almost laughing, "That was…You were incredible."

She shook her head and looked down at their fingers still intertwined, "Didn't you hear Jesse's review? He said I'm lazy."

"Jesse's an idiot. You know that. _Mr. Schue_ knows that," he spoke assuredly," Don't count yourself out yet, because unless they're completely deaf I can't imagine them not insisting you sing that song at Nationals. If I was them, I'd insist you sing it every-damn-day, just so I could hear the most beautiful thing I've ever heard coming from the most beautiful girl I've ever se—"

Mercedes stopped his words by reaching up quickly and pulling him down to her lips. She couldn't _not_ _kiss him_ for a minute longer. He pulled back after a moment and looked into her eyes, his own full of surprise and joy. She strained to watch Sam's face and he grinned his most reassuring of grins. He then wrapped his arms around her waist and yanked her into him. Mercedes reached up and straightened the baseball cap on his head, unabashedly smiling back at him.

"You're amazing," he whispered and moved backwards, pulling her with him deep into the swell of the soft stage curtains. With the heavy velvet surrounding them, Sam bent down to intuitively find her lips once again in the now complete darkness.

They stayed wrapped up in those curtains for some time. Rachel headed onstage and started to sing "My Man" completely unaware that Sam and Mercedes were trying a little tenderness some twenty feet away.

Midway through Rachel's song, Mercedes pulled back and Sam gasped a little at the loss of her soft lips.

"I have to go," she whispered, "Kurt's going to come looking for me."

"Okay, I should go back to work before they fire me. I've been delivering one pizza for the last 45 minutes," Sam said jokingly, his arms still snug around her waist.

But they didn't move. They just stood there, eyes having finally adjusted to the deep darkness of their velvet nest; they just studied each other for probably another twenty seconds.

Finally, Mercedes leaned up and gently kissed Sam once more before she, against every instinct in her body, dropped her hands from his shoulders and pushed quickly out of the curtains. She ran through the dim room and found herself back in the hallway just as Kurt and Santana were making their way towards the top of the auditorium.

"There you are. How'd it go?" Kurt asked her.

Mercedes blinked at him and Santana, completely blank.

"Mercedes?" Kurt asked her again.

"It was wonderful," she finally told them confidently and fell in behind the other two as they walked into the auditorium to see the remainder of Rachel's audition.

Looking back, Mercedes knew that that moment in the curtains largely contributed to the development of their relationship as a secret, which lead her to playing this role for Marcus today. Those damn curtains. They kept calling their names, and Sam and Mercedes kept finding themselves wrapped up in them, often a few velvety feet away from getting being discovered. The excitement of secretly dating quickly lured Sam and Mercedes. They were both considered such dependable and predictable parts of the Glee Club. Because of that, they relished this opportunity to not only enjoy the thrill of hidden touches and secret rendezvous, but also to keep something for themselves for a while.

Sam had been hurt by Glee Club gossip when his family moved into the motel, and everyone assumed the worst of him when he was already vulnerable and ashamed. He had been hurt by Quinn when she publicly cheated then he was forced to deal with their friends' comments everyday in Glee. Mercedes had admittedly been part of the rumor-mill. But now, knowing Sam and seeing how it had hurt him, she refused to let them be brought down by the opinions and schemes of the club's members. So they kept it a secret, entirely intending to come out as a couple before they started their senior year at McKinley. But that never happened.

The walk up Marcus' driveway was quick; Mercedes went over her standard story. She rang the doorbell and straightened the turquoise dress she was wearing. Marcus answered the door right away, dressed in a nice shirt and tie. He gave her a warm grin and a warmer hug, complimenting her dress then her hair. The boy knew how to get on her good side.

Marcus grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the kitchen where his mother and some female relatives were gathered. She had met Marcus' mother before, but only in passing and mostly when she and Sam were hanging out in their driveway playing basketball. Marcus had told her that she worked a lot since she was raising him on her own. His dad lived in Cleveland and Marcus had painted a picture of him as pretty unreliable.

"Mercedes!" Marcus' mom said when they walked into the kitchen. Everyone turned to look at Marcus and Mercedes and his mother reached out to hug her. "It's so good to see you. Marcus has been telling me all about your Glee club."

"Yes," Mercedes smiled, realizing that every eye in the room was on her. "We placed twelfth at Nationals last year. Now we're preparing for Sectionals in a couple months."

"Mercedes was picked to sing the national anthem at the big Titans pep rally next weekend," Marcus told everyone. The women doted and smiled.

Marcus' mom told her, "That's great! I'm going to be there. Do you know where you'll be attending college yet, Mercedes?"

"Uh, yes," she said, a little uncomfortably, "I got accepted into Northwestern University's School of Music. I've wanted to go there forever. My dad graduated from Northwestern."

"How wonderful!" she hugged Mercedes again. Mercedes couldn't help but notice how warm she seemed. "And Marcus won't be _too_ far from Chicago when he's playing football at Indiana University."

"Uh huh," Mercedes nodded.

"We understand you two met through Marcus' friend Sam? Is that right?" one tall woman in her late twenties asked.

Mercedes grinned slightly too big and nodded again, "Yes, that's right."

"The food is just about ready," a woman in her late forties told them, "You should go say hi to Auntie Barbara. It's not everyday a woman turns 90 in this family!"

Mercedes smiled and Marcus started to push her out the back door to the patio, which was packed with even more people. They made their way over to the elderly woman sitting in a soft chair in the shaded side of the yard. After wishing her a happy birthday, they moved over to the table of food that had just been put out. Music was playing, providing enough cover for Mercedes to ask Marcus, "Who were all those women in the kitchen?"

"Well, you know my mom. The others were my aunties, Pam and Jada, and my cousins Aisha and Jasmine," he lowered his voice to a whisper. "The one that told us to come out here is Pam. Her son is my cousin Vince. You know. The one gay cousin who we don't speak of."

Mercedes had known of this "gay cousin that we don't speak of" for a while now. Since they became friends, Mercedes and Marcus often found themselves in long conversations about God and their faiths. They both believed in the same loving God and had had so many of the same experiences, but their discussions made them realize that when it came to certain social topics, their family's faith lives were very different. Marcus and his family were members of the Grace Baptist Church of Lima, which was a lot more conservative in it's teachings and practices than the Methodist church in town that Mercedes' family attended. Marcus' congregation and family had very specific beliefs about homosexuality, which left little room for any alternate lifestyles.

One Sunday evening, about a week before Sam left for Nashville, Mercedes and Sam were alone at her house, curled up watching TV, when there was a knock at the door. It was Marcus, breathing tensely, his face wet with tears.

"What's wrong?" Mercedes asked, pulling him into the house.

"What happened, Marcus?" Sam questioned and then shared a worried look with Mercedes.

Marcus told them that his cousin Vince had just come out to their family after church and that it had gone horribly. There was yelling and tears and Vince's father had kicked him out of their house unless he was willing to change. It terrified Marcus to his core.

"I have no idea how I'm going to do this," Marcus told Sam and Mercedes, as he paced back and forth in Mercedes' living room, "They are constantly asking me if I've met 'a nice girl.' People from the church are trying to fix me up with girls all the time and I'm running out of excuses."

Mercedes and Sam sat on the couch in front of him. She nodded support to Marcus and reached out for Sam's hand, glad that they were both here for Marcus in this moment. She suddenly realized that a week from now Sam would be gone.

"I'm not ready to come out to them," Marcus cried, "I can't get kicked out like Vince did. But I can't start force myself to like girls just to get them off my back." He sat down in a chair and closed his eyes. "I'm going away to college in less than a year and once I'm gone, I know I can stop hiding all the time. But some days, I don't know if I'll make it until then."

Suddenly, Mercedes had the idea. "Marcus," she began, "If they _thought_ you had a girlfriend, would that make it easier to get by?"

"Well, yes," he answered, not following what she was saying.

Mercedes turned to Sam and asked him, "Will you come outside with me for a minute?" He nodded and followed her onto her front porch. They took a seat on the steps.

Before she could begin, Sam told her assuredly, "Do it. We need to help him."

"Are you sure?" Mercedes asked him, running her fingers across his cheek.

"Absolutely. Maybe it's fate or God or something… that we're still a secret and he needs help. It all works out. I'm leaving and he needs you," Sam told her and brought her fingers to his lips to kiss them softly.

"For the record, Ohio, Tennessee, or the Moon: I'll always need _you_," Mercedes told him, leaning forward to nuzzle his chest, "What a wonderful heart."

A minute later, they returned to the living room finding Marcus with his head in his hands.

"I'm yours," Mercedes announced to him. Marcus looked up slowly with confusion written across his face. Mercedes gripped Sam's right hand with both of hers.

"Marcus, let's give them the impression that you and I are together. So they'll get off your back. It's worth a try, right?" she asked.

Marcus looked at Sam standing at her side and smiling down at Marcus. He nodded reassuringly.

"Thank you," Marcus stood and pulled both of them into a hard hug, "Thank you both so much for doing this for me. "

Marcus and Mercedes soon realized that it didn't take a lot for people to think they were dating. They just started hanging out one-on-one in more public places and letting word get passed to Marcus' relatives and family-friends.

Almost immediately, people stopped trying to fix him up and started asking about Mercedes, which is why, a month later, she was at this party today. When people asked them questions about their relationship, they both played the "shy card" and said very little, offering that they were taking it slow. They were a good Christian couple, after all.

After a couple hours of chatting with his cousins, aunts, and uncles at the party, Mercedes told Marcus she should probably head out. Marcus walked her to her car and pulled her into a hug as soon as they reached it.

"I don't know if I say this enough," he told her, "but thank you so much for everything you're doing for me."

She smiled, "It's no problem, Marcus. You're my friend and I'm here for you whenever you need me."

As she opened the car door, Marcus stood a few feet away and changed the subject, "Whenever you talk about Northwestern you never seem excited. What's the deal, girl? Does Sam still not know what he's doing?"

She sighed and shook her head, "We don't talk about it a lot. He gets uncomfortable because he doesn't think he can get a football scholarship." Mercedes turned the engine on and opened the window to talk to Marcus.

"Something will work out," he told her and patted her hand through the window, "Don't worry so much, gorgeous. You and Sam are happy and apparently everyone thinks I love the ladies."

"Oh my god, I totally forgot," she slapped her forehead, "Kurt is catching on. He pretty much figured out that you and I aren't really together. I'm a little nervous he'll figure it all out one day and shout it down the hall or something. What should I do?"

Marcus laughed and sighed broodingly, "Tell him. I don't really know Kurt but I know he's a good guy. If he's your best friend and you trust him with this secret, I trust him with it."

"Okay," she nodded and pulled the car into gear, "I'll talk to him soon. See ya, Marcus."

"Bye, Mercedes," he waved and moved out of the street so she could drive away.

A few minutes after getting home, Mercedes got a text from Sam, _"How's my hero doing? Do you need another song?"_

She giggled a little and answered, "_I'm great, but a song from you will always make me better."_

"_Okay, good_," Sam texted back,_ "because I've been working on another song for you. And this one involves Na'vi."_


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Samcedes would alive and kickin'!

PART III

On Sunday afternoon, Mercedes went to talk to Kurt. When she knocked on the Hummel's front door, Carol answered.

"Mercedes! How are you?" she asked, "How is your senior year going so far?"

"It's going really well. I'm doing great in my classes, and I feel like Glee is looking really good. I was—"

"Is that my Mercy I hear?" Burt Hummel yelled from the kitchen.

Mercedes smiled and hollered back, "Yep, it's me!" Carol motioned her to come in and they walked towards the kitchen.

Burt set down the newspaper he was reading and stood to greet her with a big hug.

"How are ya, kid?" he asked, "I never see you anymore!"

"I'm great," she nodded and smiled.

"Has your dad been putting those Buckeye season tickets to good use?" Burt asked, folding the paper in front of him.

"Oh, you know him. He's down in Columbus every Saturday my mom will let him out of the house."

"I heard you're going to be a Wildcat next year! Good for you, Mercy," Burt gushed, "Northwestern is a great school. Fantastic football!"

She laughed, "Yeah, well daddy would have died if I didn't end up at _one_ of his alma maters. He loved Chicago when he was in dental school at Northwestern and I know I'll love it, too."

Burt looked between Mercedes and his wife, smiling bright, "Well you tell your old man that I'm going to take him up on a ticket to a ballgame one of these days. That is, if I decide I can trust Finn and Kurt with the tire shop for a few hours." Mercedes smirked at the thought of that.

Carol sat down at the kitchen table and took a sip from a mug before saying, "Finn just told us that you were picked to sing the national anthem at the homecoming pep rally on Sunday. That's wonderful, darlin!'"

Mercedes beamed, "Yeah, it's an honor that Principal Figgins picked me. You guys know that Clayton is McKinley's biggest rival so all kinds of alumni and pretty much the whole town will be there."

"Are you nervous? That's a big deal." Carol asked her.

"Not my Mercy," Burt smiled knowingly.

"Mr. H, you know me too well," Mercedes laughed, leaning against their big stainless steel refrigerator.

"We'll be there to cheer you on. You deserve that chance to shine. Ya know, I'm surprised that it was Finn that told us and not Kurt," Burt thought out loud.

Mercedes sighed just slightly and defended, "He's been busy lately. With his boy. I'm just glad he's so happy."

Burt and Carol nodded simultaneously and he said, "Well remember that you are _always_ welcome around here."

"I will," Mercedes smiled.

"Now you should probably get up to Kurt's room," Burt told her, "He has been stressed all afternoon. Some kind of shoe crisis. He mentioned a Marc Jacobs. I have no idea who that is, so you better hurry."

"Mercedes to the rescue," she giggled and started towards the stairs.

When she got to Kurt's door, it was slightly ajar, she pushed it open slowly, "Kurt?"

He was sitting at the computer on his desk. Indeed the Marc Jacobs shoe site was open in front of him.

"Hello, Mercedes," he said coldly, keeping his attention on the computer.

"You're still mad at me, huh?" Mercedes asked him, dropping her purse and jacket on a leather chair then climbing up to sit on his bed. "What are you shopping for?" she said and crossed her legs beneath her. Kurt didn't respond, just kept clicking around the website. "So we aren't even talking now?"

His eyes still glued to the screen, he said, "Well I don't talk to strangers. Or people who keep secrets from me."

She sighed and sat back on the bed, "Kurt, I came here to tell you the truth."

He jumped up immediately and plopped down next to her, now smiling. "I was right! I knew there was something going on!"

"You were right," she affirmed him, "So here's the thing…" Mercedes looked him straight in the eyes. "Marcus and I aren't really dating."

"I knew it!" Kurt gloated, "Wait, so what's the deal?"

Mercedes took a deep breath and told him, "The truth is that Marcus is gay."

His face shifted to confusion, "He's gay?" She nodded and let him continue, "So that makes you… his beard?"

"Well we don't like to think of it like that but—"

Kurt cut her off, "'_Don't like to think of it like that'_? Mercedes, he's gay and your helping him cover it up by letting people think you are dating." His tone was dripping with resentment.

"Kurt, I didn't think you'd be so upset about this. It's a really complicated situation. Marcus is under a lot of pressure at home and if they found out he was gay they—"

"Just stop, Mercedes," Kurt said loudly, "You've been lying to everyone. You've been lying to me! And there's no way you can rationalize it." He got up from the bed and started pacing around the room.

She was at a loss for words. She tried to back track, explain it again, explain it better, but Kurt wouldn't let her. He was so angry.

"Kurt, please, just listen," Mercedes reasoned. She heard her phone beep loudly in her purse on the other side of the room, announcing a text message. She disregarded it.

"I don't want to hear it! I can't believe this… Of all people, Mercedes! You were the one who convinced me to be myself. You said that lying to the world is not good for anyone. And now you're helping someone live a lie."

Mercedes eyes filled with tears. "Kurt…" she whispered.

"I think you should go."

She grabbed her jacket and bag and walked out of the room and downstairs, praying she could sneak out without seeing any Hummels or Hudsons. As she passed through the front door, the tears broke free of her eyes and streamed down her face. She reached into her purse to find her keys and phone discovering a text from Sam.

"_Just randomly heard 'Try A Little Tenderness' on the radio. Missing you & our curtain nest."_

She sobbed when it hit her that she didn't even get to tell Kurt about Sam.

"Hey, Mercedes!" someone yelled from down the driveway.

Mercedes threw the phone in her purse and quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks, probably hiding nothing. As Blaine approached her, she faked a smile but he looked at her questioningly.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"I'm fine. Kurt and I just had a little disagreement." Blaine made a supportively sad face and she told him, "He's pretty upset with me."

"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked, rubbing her shoulder.

"I told Kurt that Marcus and I aren't really a couple and he is not happy with me for lying to him, but it's complicated," she said, leaning her weight into the door of the car.

"Because you still love Sam?" Blaine asked her.

Mercedes couldn't help but gasp a little. "How do you know about that?" she asked him quietly.

An embarrassed look across his face, Blaine looked her in the eyes and said, "I saw it when we ran into you guys in the Lima Bean right after Nationals. I just kind of pick up on these things…"

Mercedes blinked at him.

"I never said anything to Kurt. I figured you would tell him when it was time for him to know… and I didn't want to spread rumors based on my weird intuition. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything about it."

"No, no," she told him finally, "It's okay. I'm actually kind of impressed by you for figuring it out."

"Wait, Kurt was mad?" he asked.

"It's kind of a long story, Blaine," Mercedes began, chuckling a little. She gave him the most succinct summary of the Marcus/Mercedes/Sam situation that she possibly could. Blaine was just so easy to talk to and at this point she was frazzled enough to not care about hiding facts. The honest story fell from her lips then she added, "But I didn't get very far with telling Kurt. I told him Marcus isn't my boyfriend and that he's gay and he freaked. Sam didn't even come up."

"Wow," Blaine leaned against Mercedes' car next to her, "That is a pickle."

"Yeah!" she laughed.

"Don't be too upset about this Kurt incident. He'll come around. Especially when he really knows the truth."

"I hope so," Mercedes whispered and looked up at the Hummels' house.

"He loves you so much and you have been such an important part of his journey of finding himself. This will all be straightened out soon enough."

Mercedes smiled at Blaine and he pulled her into a warm hug.

"I should get going," she whispered as he held her tight.

"Okay," he helped her get the car door open, "You're an amazing friend, Mercedes. I promise everything will turn out okay."

She nodded and waved. Blaine walked quickly towards the Hummel's front door and Mercedes headed home.

Two hours later, Mercedes was finishing up some dishes after a very quiet dinner with her parents. She and Sam had a standing Sunday night Skype date and she wanted to be sure to get to her room in time.

As she dried the last pan, her mother walked into the kitchen and stopped next to her, propping her hand on her hip and sending Mercedes a long harsh look. Mercedes wasn't sure what she had done wrong, but this didn't look good.

"Yes, mama?" she said, unable to stand the suspense any longer.

"I didn't want to say this in front of your father," her mother began, "But you need to tell me what the hell is going on with you, child."

Confused, Mercedes shrugged her shoulders, to which her mother responded with a scoffing noise.

"At church this morning, Tonya Johnson told me that she was at some barbeque yesterday and that _you_ were there with _a date_. A large Black boy."

Mercedes rolled her eyes slightly and told her mother. "That was Marcus."

"Don't you dare give me that look! Are you dating Marcus now? I thought you two were just friends," her mother asked her angrily, "And I seem to remember a blonde boy sleeping in our backyard all damn summer. I saw the way that boy looked at you, Mercedes. Any fool could see that Sam Evans gave you his whole heart and he expected you to take care of it."

"I am!" Mercedes exclaimed then she sighed, "I'm dating Sam, not Marcus. I shouldn't be talking about it, but Marcus is gay and we're leading his family to believe we're dating so that they stop trying to fix him up with girls."

"Well that just seems silly," her mother shook her head, "Does Sam know about this?"

"Yes, of course, mama. It's _complicated_," she repeated for the third time that day, "Marcus has a cousin who came out and he was disowned and kicked out. We are all afraid of what will happen if Marcus comes out."

"He was kicked out?"

Mercedes nodded and explained, "Vince is sleeping on people's couches right now. He has been pretty much cut off from everyone. I don't understand how someone could do that to their child and still call themselves a Christian."

Mercedes' mother's expression shifted but she shook her head again. "Baby girl, I don't know how you get yourself into these situations sometimes. Maybe you're too good of a friend. Maybe you shouldn't be getting involved in another family's business."

Mercedes leaned back against the kitchen counter and watched her mother process it all. After a minute, her mother asked, "Sam's okay with this because he knows what it's like to be homeless, isn't he?"

Her daughter nodded again and softly said, "I think that's a big part of it. He knows how terrible it is to lose your home and of course he wouldn't want one of his best friends to have to go through that."

Mercedes' mother grasped her daughter's face and held it in her hands, gently brushing her bangs to the side. "I'll keep your secret. Just be careful: hiding the truth from people can bring out ugly assumptions in them."

Mercedes hugged her mother and held her for a long time. Eventually she looked up realizing it was almost seven. She had to meet Sam online.

When got to her computer and she opened the Skype window, Mercedes immediately heard the sound of hysterical crying.

Sam was sitting on his bed with his laptop but his attention was elsewhere, focused on the source of the sobbing. He glanced down for a moment to see that Mercedes was online and said, "Look Stace, here's Mercy! Say hi to her."

Stacey crawled up next to Sam, her face pink and wet with tears, "Mercy?"

"Hi, honey," Mercedes said softly, "What's wrong?"

The howling began again when she tried to explain. Sam leaned in and kissed the top of his sister's head soothingly.

Finally able to speak Stacey said, "My mom said we can't go back to see my Lima friends for a while because she and daddy just started their jobs."

"Ohh," Mercedes nodded to let the little girl know she was listening.

"But I want to," Stacey went on, "Because I miss you and Quinn and my other friends from school." She leaned into Sam's shoulder and he looked at Mercedes on the computer screen with a small smile on his face.

"Well you can always call me and I'm sure Quinn, too," Mercedes told her, "Would it make you feel any better if I said I am working on special care package to mail to Nashville, just for you?"

A big smile grew across Stacey's little face, reminding Mercedes of Sam. "Yes! It would!" the girl answered.

Mercedes laughed a little and said, "Okay, good. And someday we'll make Sammy bring you and Stevie up for a visit. Okay?"

Stacey hiccupped and turned to her brother, "Really, Sammy?" He opened his eyes up wide and matched her brilliant grin, nodding at her.

Stacey looked back at Mercedes and the older girl told her, "Honey, why don't you go curl up on the couch and watch Little Mermaid like we use to do? But you have to sing along extra loud since I can't be there, okay?"

"Okay!" Stacey sang, "Bye, Mercy!"

"Bye, Stace."

Mercedes watched the girl dance away, and heard her yell loudly as she went, "Hey Stevie, guess what Mercy just said…"

"Sorry about that," Sam told Mercedes as he straightened himself on the bed. "She's been having a hard time with another new school and trying to make new friends again."

"Oh it's no problem. I do miss her," she answered honestly.

Sam smirked and said, "She told me yesterday that I can't be your best friend because _she's_ your best friend, but that I can be your 'beau.'"

"She did _not_ say 'beau!'" Mercedes shook her head.

"She said 'beau,'" he insisted.

"Where did that even come from? She is the cutest."

"Hey, I thought I was the cutest…" Sam pouted.

"It's a tie," Mercedes smiled but she couldn't make it reach her eyes. She looked at Sam quietly for a minute then closed her eyes. After this long, hectic weekend, she needed him.

"What's wrong, pretty girl?" Sam asked, reading her like he always did, "Is everything okay?"

Mercedes shook her head and whispered, "It's just been a hard day."

"I want to make it better," he told her.

"You already have," she said.

"Did something happen with Kurt?"

Mercedes nodded and felt the tears flood back into her eyes.

"What, baby? Tell me," Sam cooed.

Mercedes took a deep breath and then began to recount for him the day's events. He watched her with his hand cradling his chin, listening intently to what had happened with Kurt then Blaine then her mother.

As soon as she finished, he sat up straight and asked her, "Want me to come hold you?"

"More than anything," she grinned but the tears still slid down her cheeks.

"Okay, I'm coming," Sam moved his computer and started to stand up and Mercedes giggled in response.

"Sammy, I'm okay. You don't have to drive seven hours to see me."

He looked serious, "Well I don't _have_ to but I want to."

"No, no. You can't, Sam. You have school and practice tomorrow. Besides I have lots of other boys lined up come snuggle me. I'll just call one of them," she picked up her phone and pretended to dial.

He sat back and squinted at her, "Was that supposed to be funny, Ms. Jones?"

She laughed, nodding, "But, I can't pull it off. How the hell do I have people fooled about Marcus? I only have eyes for Sam."

He smiled brightly, "How do you think Marcus is doing? I talked to him today for a few minutes about our fantasy football league and he seemed good."

"I think he's glad to be okay with his family, but sometimes he's sick of lying," Mercedes sighed, "But who isn't?"

" We also talked about you, pretty girl."

"Oh yeah?" Mercedes questioned, "What about me?"

"Oh just how awesome you're going to be at the pep rally next weekend. I want to be there so bad, Mercy."

"I know…" she responded, feeling the same way, "I'm sure Jacob will record it. I'll get you a video." Then she asked him, "Did Marcus tell you he's going to visit Indiana University next month? The offensive line coach is bringing him out to meet the team."

"Yeah," Sam nodded and reached to his left. He grabbed his guitar and started playing some chords absentmindedly, "He mentioned it. Can I play you the latest version of that song I'm working on?"

"Why do you always do that, Sam?" Mercedes had to ask him, "When college comes up, you change the subject."

"It's not that," he paused to put the guitar down, "I'm not doing that."

"Have you heard from the recruiters from Eastern Kentucky or Memphis U lately?"

"No, not really," he told her.

"Well something will work out Sam," she said warmly, "You're a great quarterback and one of these schools will see that and give you a scholarship."

Sam looked down at his hands as he responded, "I'm really not that good, Mercedes. I'm a third-string quarterback at a small private school."

"Well that's just because of all the moving, you haven't had a chance to really get into your groove," she said assuredly.

His green eyes shined gratefully but he shook his head as he told her, "It's okay. You don't have to feed my ego. I'm trying to be realistic about my future and I don't think football is going be a real option. Yes, I need a scholarship to go to college but maybe that's not where God wants me to go."

"Sam," she whispered, her emotions so close to the surface after this day.

"Let's face it: I'm not exactly a scholar athlete," he tried to joke.

"But it's what you love..."

"Well it's not all I love. Don't worry, baby. I'll figure it out. I don't want you to worry about this. You've got enough on your plate right now."

That's easier said than done, Mercedes thought. But she would let it go now. She didn't have the energy to argue. After studying his face for a moment longer she asked, "Are you sure you're okay, Sam?"

Grinning, he promised, "Yes," but then his expression turned mischievous and he added, "Actually, you know what? No. I'm not okay. Suddenly, I feel _horrible_."

Knowing he was up to something, Mercedes giggled preemptively and playfully said, "Oh no, honey! What can I do to make it better?"

"The only known cure is a musical collaboration between a little mouse named Fievel and a beautiful girl named Mercedes."

She rolled her eyes and grinned at Sam. He was lucky he was so cute.

_Author's Note: Sorry about all the angst… It'll get better SOON!


	4. Chapter 4

**Part IV**

**Author's Note: Thanks so much for all the great reviews! I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story as much as I am!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Samcedes would alive and kickin'!**

* * *

><p>The week following her fight with Kurt was one of the strangest Mercedes could remember. Out of nowhere, the students of McKinley seemed to have quadrupled their interest in Mercedes and Marcus's relationship. They both had flown under the radar so effortlessly apart, but as a fake couple, they apparently had flashing lights attached to their heads. People watched them. Really, they stared and talked about them as they passed, not even trying to whisper. <em>Are they sleeping together?<em> Mercedes didn't know why any of these random people cared and the only person she wanted to talk to about it was Kurt. But that didn't happen. Her best friend wouldn't talk to her. He avoided her most of the time and sat as far from her as possible during Glee.

On Wednesday afternoon, the drama came to a head at the end of Glee rehearsal.

Rachel turned to Mercedes, who was sitting in the last row of chairs, and asked her, "Have you been preparing for your first live show?"

Mercedes rolled her eyes, "It's not exactly _my_ live show, Rachel. People are going to be there to support the football team."

"Well, that's the real challenge, Mercedes. They're going for the football team, but if you're good enough, they'll leave talking about you. You have to make them _believe_ you."

Mercedes sat back in her chair and thought about her words as Rachel whispered to herself, "Though I'm still not sure why Figgins picked you, but whatever. He must have known I need to rest my voice for Sectionals."

"That's like two months away," Tina pointed out then turned to Mike with a slyly victorious smile.

Rachel called across the room, "I'm right, right, Kurt? This is a true test of Mercedes' star quality? If she can sway a bunch of sweaty Neanderthal meatheads with her music, she can win over anyone."

"Hey…" Finn said quietly next to her.

"Oh not you, honey," she patted his knee, "The other people." Finn nodded tentatively.

"But you agree, right Kurt?" she badgered.

He linked eyes with Mercedes for a quick moment then shrugged.

"Kurt?" Rachel asked again, oblivious to the tension other people were picking up on.

"Mercedes has a big future ahead of her, Rachel," he finally said in a cold tone, "And this performance is just a small step on her path to college in Chicago then a professional diva career. She can make that crowd believe her. She's great at that."

Brittany openly gaped at him in confusion and Santana awkwardly added, "Um what's going on here?"

"Alright, guys," Mr. Schuester broke the tension, "Back to work." He turned to the dry-erase board to write out instructions for the next week's assignment.

Out of the corner of her eye, Mercedes watched Blaine grab Kurt's hand and squeeze it gently. Kurt was mad at her, but he hadn't spilled her secret when he easily could have. She knew, deep down, he still loved her.

That night, Mercedes' parents told her that they wanted to cook a big brunch on Sunday after church and before the pep rally. Her mom told her to invite whomever she wanted. She realized this was an opportunity to get Kurt and Marcus together in the same space and possibly get Kurt to understand.

Mercedes approached Blaine in school the next day. She told him about the brunch on Sunday and he winked at her, promising to get Kurt there.

Mercedes usually met Marcus at his locker before school and walked with him to their first classes, but on Friday, he never showed up. Then, they normally crossed paths in the East hallway after 3rd on her way to English and his way to Biology. But she never saw him. When he didn't appear at her locker before lunch, she texted him.

"_Where are you? Are you home sick?"_

After a few minutes, he answered,

"_No, I'm here. I'm not hungry. I'll see you after lunch."_

Mercedes couldn't help but wonder what was going on. He never skipped class and definitely never skipped lunch. She grabbed a seat with Mike and Tina. After finishing her sandwich and yogurt, she sneaked out of the cafeteria early, narrowly escaping the lunchroom monitor and headed to her locker on the second floor. As she approached, she noticed that Marcus was already there.

"Hey," she called out to him from down the hall. He turned to face her direction and she instantly knew something was indeed wrong. His face was drained of its ordinary vivacity.

"Hey," she repeated again, as she reached him, "What's going on? Where have you been all day?"

He said quietly, "Uhh I've been hanging under the bleachers by the field for a while."

"What's going on, Marcus?"

Just then, the bell rang announcing the end of their lunch period. The hallway was immediately flushed with students. Marcus breathed deeply and watched people pass, avoiding eye contact with Mercedes. As a pack of hockey players in letterman jackets strolled by, one of them loudly wolf-whistled in Mercedes and Marcus' direction. She rolled her eyes at them then turned to Marcus. His eyes were full of tears.

"Hey, whoa," she said, getting closer to him, "What's wrong?"

He shook his head and she grabbed his hand, pulling him forcefully into the janitor's closet that was about ten feet down the hall. They only had a few minutes before 6th period started, but she needed to make sure he was okay. Marcus kept his eyes towards the ground until they were inside with the door closed.

"Marcus?" she said, rubbing his shoulder gently.

"I told her," he finally answered, tears choking his voice, "I told my mom."

"You mean you…"

"I came out to her," he said slightly louder.

Mercedes looked up at him, her eyes widened and her breath changed. "What happened?"

He plopped down on a large box and sighed, wiping his eyes with his shirtsleeve, "Last night, I had just gotten home from practice and my mom starts telling me about this conversation she had with my Auntie Pam."

Mercedes sat down on a crate next to him and patted his knee as he went on, "They were talking about Vince. I guess he's staying in some shelter in Toledo. A normal aunt would be worried about him and maybe offer to help, right?"

He looked up at Mercedes and she nodded.

Marcus shook his head and said, "Nope, my mom told me this and then starts saying things like 'that boy needs to make better choices' and 'if he was praying harder…" and I couldn't hold it in any longer. It just sort of fell out my mouth. I said, 'Ya know what, mom, I'm gay, too.'"

Mercedes looked up at him for a long moment then asked, "What did she say?"

He wiped his eyes again and answered, "She refused to listen. She started washing dishes and telling me I was 'just confused.'"

Mercedes stood up and wrapped her arms around Marcus, hugging him tight to her chest. He sobbed a few times then sat up and looked at her.

"They talk about _the endless love of Christ_, but they don't think that love could include Vince? Include me? The real me. Does she want me to lie to her? To myself?"

Mercedes shook her head and whispered, "I don't know, but I am so proud of you, Marcus."

"Thanks," he said, "but now I have no idea what's going to happen to me. I don't know if she's going to punish me or ignore me or make me go live with my dad in Cleveland."

"Well I'm here for whatever you need," Mercedes vowed.

"I know you are," he leaned his head on her shoulder, "We should go to class."

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked him.

"Not really," he sighed, "But I'm pretty good at faking it."

Mercedes grabbed his hands, and pulled him up and out the closet door, into the hallway.

They were immediately met by the captivated eyes of dozens of McKinley students, who had apparently gathered when word spread of Marcus and Mercedes' disappearance into the janitor's closet. The crowd started to hoot and cheer, forming a barrier that forced the two teenagers to stay front and center.

"I hope you used protection, Marcus!" somebody yelled out and the mob broke out into cackling laughter.

Mercedes gripped Marcus' hand tighter and pulled him quickly towards an opening between two people. Never looking back at the spectators, they dropped hands and shuffled silently towards the Journalism room, where they had class together next period.

Marcus sat in his seat towards the back of the room and laid his head down on the desk. Mercedes plopped into her seat next to him, taking out her phone to text Sam,

"_The shit has officially hit the fan."_

Mercedes spent most of Saturday in the school auditorium rehearsing for the pep rally. She had expected to have to beg Mr. Schue for the key to use it on a weekend, but he gave in pretty easily. Maybe it was because she wasn't usually one to practice like this, especially when it was a song she had sung a million times before. But Homecoming was a big deal in Lima. Titan alumni from the last 30 years would be there and all ears would be on Mercedes. With the way the entire school seemed to be wildly obsessed with her relationship with Marcus, she had no idea what they would do when she stepped on stage. But she was finally getting her chance to shine and she wasn't going to blow it.

By the time Mercedes decided to head home, it was already dark outside. She walked in the front door of her house and went straight for the kitchen. Pulling open the refrigerator, she was looking for something to eat when she heard her name.

"Mercedes!" her dad called from the living room, "Mercedes, baby, come in here."

She shuffled to the living room and found him laid out on the couch with his book.

"Hi, sorry I missed dinner," she told him, "Where's mama?"

Dr. Jones set the open book down on his chest and took off his reading glasses. "It's okay, sugar. She ran to the market to pick up a few things for the brunch tomorrow. Do you mind letting Bosco out into the yard? He's been barking for a while."

Exhausted, she sighed then obligingly scooped the schnauzer up into her arms and headed for the backyard. She opened the sliding glass door and stepped onto the deck, setting Bosco down. Her eyes followed the small gray dog as he ran into out the yard and past her father's old red tent set up about thirty feet from the deck. Standing in front of it was Sam, a bundle of purple tulips in his hand and a solitary candle flickering at his feet.

"Oh my god," she said to herself and moved hesitantly down the steps toward him, "Are you real?"

He laughed his perfect Sam laugh and replied, "What else would I be?"

Mercedes must have worn her shock on her face, because he grinned amusedly then ran the rest of the way to her and wrapped his arms around her. She stared up at Sam, taking him in, and clasped her hands tightly behind his neck. She had no idea what he was doing here, but for this minute, she didn't care.

"Sam," she whispered and pulled him down to her lips. He kissed her eagerly and tugged her flush with his body.

They stood there kissing for a few minutes. Or maybe it was a long time. Mercedes' head was a blur of Sam's touch and Sam's taste and Sam's scent. They had been apart for a month and a half and she had somehow forgotten how easily he inundated her senses.

"Baby," he mumbled against her lips, along with a nonsensical string of other endearments.

Reluctantly, she pulled back. Sam tried to follow and pick up where he left off, but Mercedes laughed and put her fingers to his lips. Sam would kiss her all day and night if she let him. It wasn't a quality to which she objected, but sometimes they had to actually live their lives.

"Sam!" she said, "What are you doing here?" She literally had to walk backwards to keep him from kissing her long enough to talk to him. He moved hungrily after her.

"Well there's a few reasons," he grinned at her coyly and paced a half step behind her, running his right hand up and down her side. He trailed her with this devilish look in his eyes until they had made a full circle around the tent.

"Sammy," she cooed, "You need to behave for like two minutes and tell me what the hell is going on!"

He stopped and nodded his head towards the Jones' picnic table across the lawn. Mercedes followed him, grabbing his hand as they sat.

"Okay, Reason Number One," he grinned at her, "I couldn't spend another night away from you. Especially when there's supposed to be a meteor shower tonight." Mercedes melted a little as he turned up towards the sky and studied it with narrowed eyes. She lifted their entangled fingers to her lips for a quick kiss.

"And Number Two," he went on, "There's no way I am missing your performance tomorrow. I'm so psyched to see you kick ass and I'm prepared to kick ass _with_ _you_ if anyone gives you any trouble." She had come home from school the night before and told Sam the entire story of what happened with Marcus inside and outside of the janitor's closet. Sam had seemed worried, but she never imagined he would get in his car and drive all he way to Lima. Mercedes smiled at him then leaned forward to brush light kisses against his warm cheek then the tip of his nose and finally the spot just over his heart. When she sat back, Sam was looking forcefully into her eyes.

"And Number Three is this." He leaned forward to reach into his back pocket and handed her a white envelope that had been folded in half.

Mercedes opened it and pulled out a crumbled piece of paper. A letter. "_Dear Mr. Evans, Columbia College is pleased to admit you to the Columbia School of Music…"_

"Sam! This is amazing!" she beamed at him proudly. Looking back at the letter she asked, "But Columbia _College_. Where is that?"

He met her eyes and rubbed his palm across her knee, "It's in Chicago, baby."

"Really?" she asked softly.

He nodded and leaned in to kiss her gently, cupping her chin with his fingers.

"But what about money?" she said, cutting the kiss short, "How can you afford this?"

"I started looking into schools in Chicago last spring. I always knew you'd get into Northwestern," he told her.

Mercedes eyes grew wider and Sam went on, "So I submitted a few of my songs to Columbia a while back when I started getting into making my own music. Just some stuff I had been working on over the last few months, nothing I thought would mean anything, but they loved them. I'm going to be in their Songwriting and Composition track and I'll have an internship that will pay for a good portion of my tuition."

Mercedes shook her head and stared at him warmly, her eyes filling with tears. She didn't have words for how happy she was for him.

"I'll have to get another part-time job to afford a studio apartment somewhere and, ya know, food, but I'll be just fine," Sam lifted his hand to graze her cheek, "I'll be close to my pretty girl, so I'll definitely be fine."

She leaned into Sam and held him snugly in her arms, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck. He rocked them back in forth soothingly, in the same way she had seen him hold Stacey and Stevie so many times before.

Loud barking brought Mercedes back to reality. "Oh my god, Bosco! Oh my god, my dad! He's going to think I disappeared!" She leaned over to pick up the small dog then started quickly towards the house.

Sam laughed and caught up to her, putting his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her right shoulder. "He knows I'm here, Mercy. Did you think I broke into your house and stole his tent? I called them this morning to ask if it would be okay for me to come stay."

"So you and my parents have been conspiring, Mr. Evans? You're in cahoots, eh?" She smiled over her shoulder at him. Sam kissed her cheek then she leaned over to set Bosco on the ground, forcing him to break his hold around her waist.

The dog trotted over to the deck and climbed up the stairs, barking once at the door. Mercedes' father opened it a minute later, letting Bosco inside. He nodded his head in greeting to Sam and Mercedes in the yard.

"Mercy, you can stay out here for a while, but when I flip on the light, it's time to come inside for bed. Tomorrow is your big day."

"Yes, daddy," she responded respectfully.

"Thanks, Dr. Jones," Sam waved. As her dad went back inside, Sam reached for Mercedes' hand and pulled her towards the tent.

He picked up the flowers that he had dropped at some point along the way.

"These are for you," his green eyes shined boldly.

Mercedes took them and held them against her heart, "Thank you, Sammy. Purple tulips are my favorites."

"I know," he said confidently and sat down on top of the sleeping bag, which had been sprawled out on the grass in front of the tent. He reached up to pull her down onto the space in front of him.

She scooted in between his knees and leaned back against him. He swallowed her up in his arms, gently moving her hair to the side to nuzzle the back of her neck.

"I can't believe you drove all the way up here to see me and show me that letter," Mercedes whispered, "But I'm so glad you did. I'm so proud of you and I would've hated not being near you when I heard this amazing news." Sam hugged her tighter.

They sat in easy silence for a long time, sharing their bodies' warmth until the late September night got a little too chilly and they had to wiggle into the pocket of the sleeping bag. Sam lied on his back, propping himself up on one elbow, and Mercedes snuggled into his side, nestling her nose cozily into the nook between his neck and his chest.

He chuckled, "Well, you're going to have a hard time watching the stars like that, Ms. Jones."

"I've got better things to look at," she answered and kissed softly up his neck. Sam lifted her chin to meet her lips with his own, but after a minute, she stopped him.

"Oh my god! Stacey!" she said.

"I don't think we have to worry about her interrupting us right now," Sam said in response, his voice low as he leaned in to nibble on Mercedes' left earlobe.

Mercedes giggled, "No, I mean we promised her that you'd bring her for a visit!"

He stopped what he was doing and smiled at Mercedes, "It's okay. I told her this is a beau's only trip. Best friends can come next time."

"And she believed that?"

"She's six, Mercedes, she believed me when I tried to convince her and Stevie that I'm really a robot."

Mercedes cackled with laughter and playfully slapped his chest before snuggling back into it.

"How's Marcus?" he asked a minute later.

"I honestly don't know," she whispered, "I'm just glad you're here."

Sam pressed a kiss to her forehead and squeezed her closer to him.

Eventually, the bright light on the side of the house flashed on and sucked Sam and Mercedes out of their blissful little cocoon. Without a word, she squirmed out of the sleeping bag and stood while Sam followed. He intertwined his fingers with hers and they walked slowly towards the backdoor of her house.

As they approached the deck, Mercedes felt a strange mix of emotions. Over the summer, these goodnights had become routine, but part of this routine was the lingering fear of a real goodbye. Those old feelings were now jumbled in with a new sense of excitement and relief. Chicago. Less than a year. They would be together: physically near each other in a calculable amount of time. They actually had a real chance at a real future, but they had to spend months apart before that would begin.

Mercedes stopped on the first step and turned around, meeting Sam's eye-level.

"Will you come to church with us tomorrow?"

He nodded, "Of course."

"And then my mom's making that big brunch. I'm going to need you for that."

"I'm hungry already," he smiled and grasped at her hips, moving closer to her.

Mercedes leaned forward to capture his lips, kissing him deeply and raking her fingers through his soft short hair.

Sam wasn't quite finished kissing her goodnight when she pulled back hastily and declared, "Mr. Schue is going to be so proud of you, Mr. Songwriter! You have to tell him about this program and internship tomorrow."

Sam sighed deeply, "Well, he did buy me my very first rhyming dictionary… But he has also found a way to stand in the way of my macking, even though I don't go to McKinley anymore."

"Oh, stop," Mercedes giggled, rolling her eyes before she grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him in to finish their goodnight.

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><p><strong> Thanks for reading! REVIEWS ARE LOVE!<strong> :)

**I want to give you guys a head's up that the next chapter will be the end of this story.** I would love to keep it going, but I'm starting a new job next week and I won't have a lot of time for writing. I decided I'd rather have a resolution to the story than drag it out for chapters and kill you guys with long waiting periods. But fret not, I may do two things (1) write an epilogue one-shot that takes place a year later and/or (2) write another short story in this AU that takes place later in their senior year. I'm pretty sure I'll at least do the former because I have a plan.

**One last random note: **For a while, I've had a bit of a crack!ship obsession with Sam/Rhyming Dictionaries. That'll probably come up again… Prepare yourselves.


	5. Chapter 5

**Part V**

**Author's Note: Here it finally is! The last chapter of my Samcedes story. And it's LONG! Thanks to everyone for reading. Your reviews are amazing. I'm choosing to believe that my story is not AU but is closer to what is going to really happen when Sam reappears in canon. I know, I'm insane, but I'm okay with it! Haha. At some point, I intend to write an epilogue that takes place a year later. Hopefully, I'll do that sooner than later. Let me know if you'd be into reading that so I'm motivated to write it. ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee!**

When Mercedes woke up in the morning, it took her a minute to realize that she had not been dreaming. Sam was really here. Smiling, she slipped out of bed. She quickly showered and dressed for church, a modest skirt and cardigan. She spent some time on her hair and makeup and threw on some flats before heading downstairs.

As she passed the front window, she noticed it was raining slightly. _Poor guy_, she thought, and decided to she go outside to make sure Sam was up. But as she reached the kitchen door, she found him sitting at the table with her parents. All three of them were holding a cup of coffee and reading a section of the newspaper. She had to stifle a laugh because they were so inadvertently adorable.

She immediately observed how good Sam looked. He was wearing a light blue button-down, a sage green tie that matched his eyes, and black pants. When he noticed her standing in the doorway, he shot her warm smile, which she matched.

"Good morning," Mercedes said to him.

"Good morning, Mercedes dear," her mother responded as she folded up her section of the newspaper. "Sam's been up helping me chop the fruit and veggies so that we can easily throw things together after church for brunch."

Mercedes continued to grin at Sam and answered, "He's nice like that." He grinned back.

"Are you ready for church?" Mercedes' dad asked loudly, breaking the intense teenage stare-down that clearly had not escaped her parents.

"Yes, just let me grab my rain jacket," she responded and left the kitchen to walk to the front closet. As she swung the door open, someone warm hugged her from behind.

"Good morning, pretty girl," Sam said into her ear, his voice low and velvety. He nuzzled his lips and nose into the side of her neck. She leaned back into him.

"You know," he whispered, "Since we've been together, we have spent forty-three nights in different states. They've all been hard, but _last night_ was pure torture." Mercedes turned her head to try to look at him over her shoulder and waited for him to explain, "Knowing that you were so close to me but that I had to be a good boy scout and stay in my tent." Sam shook his head and grinned, "Torture."

She smiled and turned in his arms to face him, never breaking their contact. He dipped his head in to kiss her lightly then stayed close, gazing into her eyes.

"You were a boy scout, weren't you?" Mercedes asked him with a smirk.

Sam shrugged his shoulders, "Where do you think I learned to assemble that tent?"

She laughed, allowing herself just a moment to picture him in a cute little uniform.

"How do you feel today?" he asked, reaching up to brush a strand of hair out of her face.

"I'm so happy," she beamed then sighed shallowly, "but I can't seem to shake these nerves."

"About your performance?" Sam asked.

"Psh, no, I got _that_ down. The divatude is on." Sam grinned widely. He loved her ferocity. Mercedes explained, "These last couple of weeks have been insane. I'm worried about Marcus. I'm worried about Kurt. I just feel… uneasy."

Sam nodded then and reached down to intertwine one of his hands with one of hers, wrapping his other arm around the small of her back to pull her even closer to him. "I'm here, Mercy," he told her, his tone serious, "Clearly, I'm not always here in Lima. To do this." Squeezing her hand and waist, he twirled them both ever so slightly, almost like they were dancing really slowly. Then he continued, "But I'm always _here_. Always on your side. Always proud of you. No matter what anyone else thinks. I'll hold your hand under every table we can find until the absolute second I have to get in that truck tonight and drive back to Nashville. But even when I'm gone, I promise: I'm here." Mercedes looked into his deep green eyes and understood him.

"Thank you, Sammy," she whispered. She stood on her tiptoes, and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, placing soft kisses along the crux of his jaw until they heard her dad shout from the garage.

"Mercedes! Sam! Church! Let's go!" Sam helped her put on her jacket and they walked quickly towards the garage.

Ten minutes later, they were in the backseat of Dr. Jones' BMW on their way to First Methodist Church of Lima. Their seatbelts and her parents in the front seat kept the two teenagers from sitting as close as they would have liked. But thanks to Sam's long arms, Mercedes was able to hold his hand in her lap as she absentmindedly played with his fingers. He watched her look out the window into the rainy morning, clearly deep in her thoughts. When they pulled into a parking space outside the church, Dr. Jones jumped out quickly to meet with the other ushers before the service began. Mrs. Jones hesitated for a moment, looking at Sam and Mercedes in the rearview mirror.

"I know you two are happy to be seeing each other and this is really none of my business, but aren't people in this town still thinking that Mercy is dating Marcus?"

Mercedes sighed sadly and looked at Sam. He sent her a sweet smile and pulled his hand back from hers. Mrs. Jones nodded and then stepped out of the car, slamming the door behind her.

"Right. Got it," Sam said, "No touching. I'm your platonic friend Sam, visiting to support the football team for Homecoming."

"I hate this! I'm so sick of all these damn secrets," Mercedes said, leaning back against the headrest, "I just want to shout from the microphone in there, 'Sam Evans is my man and he's wonderful.'"

"The _minute_ Marcus doesn't need us to cover for him, I intend to tell the whole world," Sam said seriously. Mercedes buttoned her jacket and pulled up the hood.

"Just picture us in Chicago, Mercy," he said tenderly, "Me and you. No hiding it. We'll be us and we'll be together and we'll be happy. It's just a matter of months."

"Just months," she repeated quietly to herself.

Sam turned to look out the back window. He glanced to their left and right, making sure no one was around and then he leaned in, underneath the hood of her lime green rain slicker, and kissed Mercedes gently. He sat back up and she smiled at him brushing her palm against his freshly shaven cheek.

Sam looked into her eyes for a moment then said, "Just in case, we better have your mom sit between us in church. You know how the spirit can _move_ me."

She playfully pushed him away before popping open the door, "Let's do this."

* * *

><p>An hour after the service ended, Sam and the Joneses were in the kitchen getting ready for the big brunch. Marcus was on his way and Blaine had texted Mercedes last night that he should be able to bribe Kurt into coming. Mercedes wasn't comforted by Kurt's needing to be paid off to be in her company, but she knew that if she could get his attention, he might actually listen.<p>

When the doorbell rang, Mercedes hurried to the front, opening the door to reveal Marcus standing in his McKinley football jersey holding a big red umbrella.

"Hey beautiful," he said, but his smile seemed a little forced.

"Hi," she said as she pulled him inside, grabbing the umbrella from him to toss into the corner. "You doing okay?"

He nodded, "It's just weird in my house. My mom is silent. She's in denial or something."

Mercedes smiled when she noticed Sam walk into the living room behind Marcus' back, "I have a surprise for you." She pointed.

Marcus' face instantaneously brightened, "Sam! How are you, man?" The two boys embraced in a sweet, brotherly hug.

"I'm good. Really happy to be visiting," Sam smiled and his eyes fell on Mercedes next to him.

"We've missed you so much, buddy," Marcus told him then clarified, "but in very different ways."

Mercedes laughed hard and Sam pulled her into his side, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"It's good to see you guys together," Marcus said, "The way it's supposed to be. Not this messed up situation we've dug ourselves into."

"We'll get through this," Sam promised Marcus then turned towards Mercedes to his right, "We will all get through this."

"Brunch in five!" Mrs. Jones shouted from the other room.

"I hope you're hungry, Marcus," Sam said, adding, "The Joneses have had me up chopping vegetables since dawn."

Mercedes reached up to ruffle Sam's hair into disarray, "He is lying, Marcus."

Again, the doorbell rang out piercingly.

"That's probably Kurt and Blaine," Mercedes told them. She turned to Marcus and explained, "Kurt may have some words for you. Or he may ignore you. I don't know. I just want you to be warned: he's still mad."

"And you two? Does he know?" Marcus asked.

Sam shook his head and Mercedes whispered "No, not a clue." She walked slowly towards the door, but before she reached the handle, Sam leaned in to kiss her cheek.

"You'll be great and, if a fight breaks out, I can hold your earrings."

She laughed, "Thanks, baby, " then took a deep breath before swinging the door open.

There stood a smiling Blaine and a very surly-looking Kurt.

"Hi boys, thanks for coming," Mercedes said, moving aside to let them through the door.

"Sure! Thanks for having us, Mercedes!" Blaine pushed Kurt into the living room and Mercedes noticed him lovingly squeeze his boyfriend's forearm.

"Yes, thanks," Kurt said softly, looking uncomfortable and throwing his eyes crazily around the room to avoid making eye contact with anyone.

"Sam?" he said louder when he spied the blonde boy in the corner of the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Here for a visit," Sam answered quickly and choppily with his prepared response, "To support the football team for homecoming. And see the Glee kids. Mercedes was nice enough to offer her yard and tent."

"Tent?" Kurt asked sneeringly.

Sam nodded.

"How boy scout-esque"

Sam laughed trying to avoid looking at Mercedes. She could sense his nerves but she doubted that Kurt could. Sam being awkward wasn't anything new for anyone.

"Hi, Sam," Blaine interjected, "It's nice to see you again." Sam leaned forward to shake Blaine's hand: a slightly clumsy yet gentlemanly handshake.

Kurt and Blaine turned their eyes to Marcus in the back of the room, Blaine still smiling, Kurt now back to scowling.

"Hey guys, it's nice to see you. I'm glad to have chance to get to know each other a little better," Marcus said confidently, surprising Mercedes. She noticed Kurt's face soften just a bit.

"I'm sorry about all the lying," Marcus went on, walking closer to the rest of the teens, "I have this cousin, Vince. He was disowned and kicked out by our family when he came out over the summer. Frankly, I've been terrified. Mercedes has just been being Mercedes. Taking care of a friend." Kurt's eyes were glued to Marcus so Mercedes allowed herself a quick peek at Sam who was smiling softly at her.

"I'm so sorry that this created a rift between you two," Marcus told Kurt who finally looked at Mercedes. "It was a desperate situation and I know she never meant to hurt you." They all stood in silence for a long moment.

"Kids! Food's ready!" Mercedes' mom shouted from the kitchen. Sam led Marcus and Blaine toward the dining room. Mercedes started to follow, but Kurt grabbed her wrist to stop her. She turned to him, seeing tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"I'm sorry," she replied and pulled him into a warm embrace where she needed to hold him for a minute.

Mrs. Jones had decided that since today was Mercedes' big day, they would eat brunch in the formal dining room, which was usually reserved for events like Thanksgiving and grandparent visits.

When Mercedes and Kurt slipped into the room, everyone else was seated and waiting for them. The two open spots were directly across from Sam and Marcus, between Blaine and Dr. Jones.

"Dig in, everyone!" Mrs. Jones directed as she stood from her seat on the other side of her husband to start dishing plates of ham, "There are four teenage boys in this room: I expect no leftovers."

The food was phenomenal and included most of Mercedes' favorites. Marcus, Sam, and Dr. Jones talked college football as Blaine got the details of Mrs. Jones' French toast recipe from her. Kurt and Mercedes fell easily into their old groove and chatted about the pep rally and the various drama that surrounded it.

"Rachel told me that she was thinking about approaching Figgins about a secondary _song_," he told Mercedes.

"Another song? Other than the 'Star-Spangled Banner'?" Mercedes chuckled, "That girl has lost her mind."

"That's pretty much what I told her. I said that people are not going to the Homecoming pep rally for a musical variety show."

Suddenly, Mercedes phone beeped loudly. She grabbed it out of her lap, flipping it over to reveal a text from Sam.

"Wish I was sitting next to you…"

She laughed softly and met his waiting eyes. Sam grinned at her widely.

"Oh my god!" Kurt nearly shouted. Everyone at the table stopped and stared as he blinked dramatically towards Mercedes.

"I just figured it out!" Kurt told them, "The text! That smile!" He pointed to Sam, "_That_ smile! You two! You're together!"

Afraid that his anger would start all over again, Mercedes nodded slowly, moving her eyes between Kurt and Sam. Everyone waited.

"Ah, I'm so happy for you two!" Kurt finally shouted, leaning over to wrap Mercedes into a big hug. From his embrace, she looked over at Sam who was clearly as relieved as she was.

Kurt sat back, clapping a few times and dancing in his chair until he suddenly stopped and said, "Why is no one else reacting?"

Sam and Marcus laughed. Dr. Jones leaned back in his chair with a big sigh. He made an effort to be oblivious to teenage drama. As long as his daughter was safe and happy, he didn't need to know the details of her romances and friendships, but today it seemed to be acting itself out at his dining room table.

"You all knew, didn't you?" Kurt said. Blaine reached out to grab his hand and nodded.

"Blaaaine!" he said embarrassedly and everyone laughed again, including Kurt. "I don't even mind because I love it," he swore to Mercedes. She breathed a little easier.

* * *

><p>An hour and a half later, the teens were headed to the high school. Marcus had left quickly after brunch to meet the team before the rally. Before departing, he hugged everyone including Kurt, Blaine, and a thoroughly confused Dr. Jones.<p>

Kurt and Blaine offered a ride to Sam and Mercedes, which she gladly accepted, desperate for any moment with Sam away from her parents' snooping eyes.

"Seriously, you two are adorable," Kurt said when he turned to face them from the front seat. This car ride, Sam made the choice to sit in the middle seatbelt, allowing Mercedes to curl up under his shoulder.

"Well, one of us is," he responded and kissed her cheek.

"Okay I can't even handle the cuteness!" Kurt squealed to Blaine behind the wheel.

"Leave them alone, honey," Blaine said, "They only have this car ride then it's back to secret lovers."

"I still can't get over the fact that it's been almost five months. All this hiding for Marcus?" Kurt asked, turning around to look at them again.

"It didn't start out that way, but it is what it has become," Sam told him, "He's our friend and we had to do what could to help him." He turned to Mercedes who was looking up at him from her spot snuggled into his chest. Sam kissed her forehead and protectively pulled her in tighter to his body as they drove into the crowded McKinley parking lot.

"Thank god for tinted windows!" Blaine pointed out.

The Glee kids (minus Puck, Finn, and Mike who had to be with the team) had decided to meet in the choir room to wish Mercedes good luck and try to get seats together in the auditorium. When Blaine, Kurt, and Mercedes walked in with Sam, the club exploded with excitement.

"What the hell, Trouty?" Santana asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Uh," Sam hesitated as everyone stared, "I wanted to support the Titans for homecoming. I really missed ya'll."

"Listen to that accent!" Tina pointed out, "It's stronger than ever."

"He was always a country boy at heart," Mercedes inadvertently answered softly.

"Where are you staying?" Artie asked him.

"Well, I'm headed back to Nashville tonight, but Mercedes was nice enough to let me stay in a tent in her yard."

There was silence then Kurt saved them by lying, "He asked me first but my dad's re-sodding this week. Sam wanted the visit to be a surprise."

People bought it.

"Sam," Rachel began from the corner of the room, "I assume you have heard that Mercedes will be singing a solo today."

Sam turned to Mercedes and nodded, "She'll be great.

Mercedes just grinned then realized she was probably running late. "I should go find Principal Figgins. He'll be looking for me," she said to her friends.

"Good luck!" "Break a leg!" Her friends shouted as she walked towards the door. One twangy voice stood out as she reached for the doorknob, "Can't wait!"

After letting Figgins know that she was there, Mercedes peeked from the side of the stage into the auditorium to see how big the crowd was. Indeed, Lima had turned out. The front section was reserved for the student body and the upper levels were filled with family and fans. She spotted her own parents, as well as the Hummel-Hudsons, and Marcus' mom. It was funny, she thought to herself, that the Glee Club had performed here so many times and struggled to bring it an audience for Rachel's many solos but now Mercedes was about to sing and the joint was packed.

Mercedes found her friends in the student section and noticed that they had snuck Sam in with them. He was sitting next to Kurt in the front row. They were deep in quiet conversation and Kurt was clearly grilling Sam for information. Mercedes chuckled and mentally wished Sam the best as she headed backstage to wait for her cue.

Principal Figgins took to the stage and announced the 2011-2012 McKinley High School Titans. Then, the football team entered the stage from the opposite end and took seats on sets of bleachers that had been put there.

Mercedes eyed Marcus and waved to him. He nodded and smiled in her direction. Figgins introduced Coach Beiste, who welcomed everyone to this year's homecoming pep rally.

As Beiste finished her speech, Mercedes knew it was her turn. She heard the coach say, "Now please rise as McKinley senior Mercedes Jones leads our national anthem."

Mercedes stepped onto the stage and moved towards the microphone in front, center stage. Suddenly, the student section erupted into a roar of crude hoots and hollers. On stage, members of the football team started chanting, "Way to go, Marcus! Way to go, Marcus!" It got louder and louder as the rest of the students caught onto the chant.

Mercedes stopped next to the microphone, frozen, as the young crowd continued to laugh and screech. She looked out into the auditorium. She was unable to see most people's faces because of the bright spotlight shining directly into her eyes, but she could see her friends sitting in the front row. Making eye contact with Sam, she knew he was stunned. He never thought the students of McKinley would actually have the nerve to do something so rude and hurtful. Mercedes could read the anger in his furrowed brow as he stood next to their friends, his arms crossed across his chest firmly. Kurt put his hand on the back of Sam's shoulder, obviously trying to ground him enough to keep him from doing something rash in front of the entire town. The jeering still hadn't died down.

"Hey!" someone suddenly yelled from behind Mercedes. She turned to see Marcus stand up and move toward the front of the stage.

"HEY!" She had never seen him like this: so livid and assured and _loud_. He didn't even need the microphone.

"This needs to stop!" Marcus said fearlessly to the massive group of peers and the rest of the town, as they stood by and watched in confusion, "My relationship with Ms. Jones is no one's damn business." He paused as the crowd grew silent. Mercedes was certain that Marcus had never had this much attention in his life. He looked out past the student seats into the higher sections of the auditorium and said, "And not that it's anyone's business, but Mercedes and I are not together. And in fact, I am gay."

The crowd's sound transformed into to a wave of whispers as Marcus turned back toward his seat, not even looking at Mercedes as he passed her. He had clearly shocked himself with the split-second decision to come out so publicly. Mercedes was once again left staring at the crowd, frozen in uncomfortable silence.

All of a sudden, the whispers were broken up by some loud noises in the front of the audience and then Sam leaped up onto the stage from the orchestra pit down below.

He walked towards Mercedes and grabbed the microphone off its stand. "Hi, everyone. I'm Sam."

Mercedes glanced behind her just in time to see Coach Beiste throw up her arms in defeat and confusion. She then caught Puck shoot Finn a confused look then shrug his shoulders and turn back to watch Sam.

Sam faced Mercedes as he said into the microphone, "Mercedes Jones is _my_ girl. She's wonderful and I love her."

She kept her eyes glued to him, no longer concerned with the fact that Lima was watching.

"Really?"

Sam nodded with a perfect lopsided grin.

"Me, too," Mercedes told him. Sam quickly placed the mic back onto its stand before moving to her, pulling her face to his and kissing her with all the passion and emotion they had been hiding for months.

The crowd remained silent. Mercedes and Sam didn't pull back until someone cleared his throat into the microphone. They turned to find Principal Figgins staring at them, clearly annoyed.

"Can we proceed with the national anthem now?"

"Uh, yeah," Mercedes said quickly and shyly, turning to the crowd but avoiding the faces of anyone she knew.

Figgins eyed Sam and he backed up, motioning towards backstage, "I'll just be over here…" The crowd laughed and Figgins announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen, _please_, the national anthem…"

After Mercedes finished, (she nailed the song of course) she skipped off stage finding Sam waiting near their favorite velvet stage curtains.

"Well, we can never make fun of Finn and Rachel for Nationals again," she said quietly as she approached Sam. They laughed blissfully as they embraced.

"When you said that you were announcing our relationship the minute Marcus didn't need me, you weren't kidding, huh?" Mercedes joked.

Sam just smirked at her and shook his head.

Mercedes ran her hand up to his chest and pushed him backwards into the familiar soft nest. She reached up to entangle her fingers into his golden brown locks and eagerly find his lips.

"Sam," she whispered as he nibbled on her earlobe, "I should probably go greet my adoring fans."

He whispered into her ear, "Excuse me, but as the President of the Mercedes Jones Fan Club, I demand to adore you first." She easily gave in.

After what was apparently at least another hour, someone cleared his throat exaggeratedly just outside the curtains. They froze and Sam pulled the panels of material back to reveal Principal Figgins, once again frazzled and uncomfortable.

"Time to go, children. Kindly vacate this area. The pep rally is over. I need to lock up. Also, Mr. Evans, in the future, I ask that grand romantic gestures be limited to enrolled McKinley students when performed during a school function."

Mercedes blushed and muttered, "So sorry..." as Sam chuckled and pulled her by the hand towards the stage door. It opened onto McKinley's senior hallway, swarming with students who immediately turned to stare at the two teens. Sam gripped Mercedes' hand tighter and pulled it up towards his lips for a quick kiss.

Mercedes breathed deeply in and out. Then, one by one, people turned away and went back to their conversations and lives.

"See? We're already old news," Sam whispered as they started down the hall towards the front of school, where her family had said they would be waiting.

"This part will be interesting. I'm a dead man, aren't I?" he said half jokingly as they turned the final corner of the hallway, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder.

They stepped into the lobby and the crowd thickened to include lots of family and various Limans. Sam kept his arm around Mercedes, tracing his fingers in tiny circles on the top of her arm. Mercedes located her parents standing near the door with Kurt and Finn's parents. As she approached they applauded and Mrs. Jones held her arms out to her daughter.

"You sounded beautiful, baby girl. Just beautiful."

Sam waited a few feet back while Mercedes stood in her mother's embrace. He put his hands into his pockets and shifted his weight awkwardly from foot-to-foot.

"That was quite a _show_," Dr. Jones said when they all had spied Sam in the background. He looked at the boy, seeing a blush spread across his face and neck.

Burt Hummel took a few steps towards Sam and reached over to swiftly pat him on the back.

"I know you're a good guy, Sam, and you'll be good to our Mercy," he said as more of a command than an observation.

"Of course," Sam nodded sharply and picked his stare up off the floor to meet Mercedes' eye line. "She deserves the best."

"Yes," her dad agreed, putting on his jacket and gesturing towards the door at his wife. Sam could tell this talk wasn't over.

"We're going to head home, honey. You can catch a ride with a friend?" Mercedes' mom asked her.

"Yeah," she nodded in response, "Someone will drive us."

Mercedes suddenly realized how limited her time with Sam was. The countdown had begun.

"We're so proud of you, Mercedes" Carol smiles as the adults started for the door, "And happy for you." Burt winked and then Mercedes' four parents were gone. She took a deep breath and turned to Sam.

"Choir room?" he asked. The Glee Club had agreed to meet after the rally ended so they could say goodbye to Sam before he went back to Nashville. Mercedes had a feeling that they were in for an earfull after their display.

She nodded, grabbed his hand, and they started to push their way back through the crowd. Before they left the lobby, out of the corner of her eye, Mercedes noticed Marcus wrapped around his tiny mother in a silent embrace. Mercedes looked up to see that Sam was watching them too. His lips perked into a small smile then he squeezed her hand tight as they continued toward the back of school.

When they entered the choir room full of their friends, it was silent. They instinctively took to the floor, front and center, as if they were waiting for their punishment. Kurt sat in the back row, Blaine's arm wrapped around him and a big smile across both of their faces. Those smiles made Mercedes feel a little better but still she waited.

Taking point for the group, Santana stood up at her seat. Sam and Mercedes continued to grasp hands tightly but Santana's harsh stare forced them both to instinctively drop their eyes to the floor.

"Marcus is gay?" she asked them.

They both nodded, heads dropped dejectedly.

"And you two are dating?"

They nodded again.

"How long has this been going on?"

Glancing at Sam quickly, Mercedes answered loud enough for everyone to hear, "Five months."

"Since after prom," Sam added.

Santana's eyes opened wide in disbelief as she turned to look at the faces of the rest of the club who remained silent.

"So you're telling us," Santana clarified, "that you two have been together under all of our noses for months and none of us noticed?"

"Well, technically, I did," Kurt said quietly in the back. Blaine smiled at him, but everyone else ignored him. Silence engulfed the room.

Then suddenly, Brittany jumped up from her seat in the front row and wrapped her arms around both Sam and Mercedes, squeezing them into each other, "I'm sorry we didn't see it."

"Sorry," everyone else voiced at varying volumes.

Tina smiled, "We love you both and we are so happy for you."

Mercedes looked up at Sam who was grinning at her. He pulled her closer to him and gently kissed her forehead.

"Isn't it hard to be so far apart?" Blaine asked, his hand now firmly grasping Kurt's knee.

"Of course," Mercedes said quietly, locking eyes with Sam for a moment, "but we try to look forward to the future. Oh, speaking of the future, Sam has some exciting news to share!"

Sam blushed. The group stared at him and waited.

"I'm actually going to college. For songwriting. In Chicago," he announced clumsily then grinned at Mercedes who wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled into his chest. When they looked back at the group, everyone was smiling. Even Santana. Even Quinn. Even Rachel.

"Songwriting?" Finn asked, "I didn't know you were that kind of musician, Sam."

"Well, I've recently become very inspired," he answered matter-of-factly.

Mercedes heard Puck say somewhat under his breath, "Well that explains the rhyming dictionary he carried around all spring..."

After Sam and Mercedes had adequately answered their friends' lingering questions and curiosities, the group stood around in more casual conversations.

While talking to Artie, Tina, and Mike, Mercedes felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to find Rachel.

"That was an unexpected performance, Mercedes. I'm so glad I didn't have to deal with all that yelling."

Mercedes rolled her eyes and started to turn back to her conversation, but Rachel added, "No, I mean, that was impressive. You were a true professional out there. Not letting them win and finding the courage to sing."

"Thanks, Rachel," she nodded sincerely and turned back, noticing Marcus peek into the window of the door. She excused herself and sneaked away to talk to him in the hall.

"I'm so sorry," he said to Mercedes as soon as she closed the door behind her. He put his arms around her, smooshing her into a strong hug.

"What are you sorry about?" she asked, her voice muffled by his belly as he continued to hug her, his stature much taller than hers.

"You came out, Marcus! For real! It was amazing!"

"I'm sorry I left you hanging up there like that. I couldn't believe my own words. Luckily, that boy of yours sure knows how to rescue his lady."

They both laughed and then Mercedes asked, "What happened with your mom?"

Marcus smiled brightly and she noticed his eyes fill with tears. "She said she was proud of me and that she loved me."

Mercedes smiled back and reached up to rub his shoulder

"It doesn't mean everything is perfect," he said, "but I think it could actually be okay."

Now Mercedes had tears in her eyes. She heard someone shut the door behind her and turned to find Kurt and Sam with concerned looks across their faces. Marcus smiled, showing them that these were happy tears as Sam approached Mercedes and nodded supportively at her.

Kurt reached out to hug Marcus tight. The two of them looked so cute embraced so lovingly. Mercedes and Sam could not help but to giggle. The two boys ignored them, Kurt saying something to the bigger boy in a voice so quiet that Mercedes couldn't hear a word. Marcus listened intently and nodded at various points.

As this virtually silent conversation continued, Sam whispered into Mercedes' ear, "I'm so proud of both of you." Then he kissed her cheek lightly.

After a lot of goodbyes and congratulations, Sam and Mercedes accepted a ride back to her house from Marcus. Her stomach ached with sadness and anticipation as they pulled up to her house. Marcus got out of his car to hug them both one more time.

"Take care, Sam" Marcus said to his friend as he climbed back into his car, "And thank you."

"No thank you necessary, buddy," Sam answered, his arm around Mercedes' waist. "You let me know how your college visit goes next week."

"Everyday in high school seems so important. So consequential. But this is really just the beginning, isn't it?" Marcus said to them, not really looking for an answer. They smiled at him and waved as he drove away.

It was getting dark already and Mercedes knew that Sam would probably have to drive straight through the night to make it to school on time the next morning. They had to say goodbye.

Walking into the house, they headed for the kitchen, finding Mercedes' mom and dad sitting there, working on some bills. Sam had packed up the tent and lined up his things in a stack by the Jones' back door before they had left for the pep rally.

He started grabbing his belongings and Mrs. Jones asked, "You heading out, Samuel?"

He nodded and instinctively wrapped her into a hug. When she pulled back, he reached across the table to shake Dr. Jones' hand firmly.

"Thank you both so much for everything. For lending me your tent and your yard. For brunch. And for letting your daughter be seen with the likes of me," Sam laughed self-deprecatingly but no one joined in. They were silent.

"We actually couldn't ask for a better man," Dr. Jones said, making more eye contact with Sam than Mercedes had ever seen before. He shook his hand again, nodding.

Without a word, Sam and Mercedes grabbed the bags at their feet and walked towards the front of the house. Going out to his truck, Sam opened the door and threw his things into the small back seat, along with Stacey's special care package and a container full of brownies for Stevie.

Mercedes didn't know how she was going to do this. They had had less than 24 hours together and now she didn't know when she'd see him next.

When Sam turned back to her, he found the tears in her eyes.

"Oh, baby," he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers, "Please don't cry."

"How is it possible that I miss you already?" she sobbed, a few tears dribbling down her cheeks.

He pushed the hair out of her face and brushed away the stray tears with his thumb. "Remember: Chicago in just a matter of months."

She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzling into her spot there. There were so many things she could say but she just wanted to spend these last seconds ensconced in his touch.

When she finally looked up at him again, she knew it was time. She stood back so he could get into the front seat, but she moved in next to him, not letting him go just yet.

Sam set the keys in the ignition then reached over to grasp Mercedes' chin with his fingers, leaning in to kiss her. She kissed him back deeply and consciously tried to burn the feel of his lips into her memory. Against her mouth, he whispered, "I love you, pretty girl." She kissed him a moment longer and answered, "I love you too, Sam."

They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment, searching for the strength for this goodbye.

"I'm not saying it," she told him.

"Me, neither," he vowed then added, "Kiss me one more time."

She followed his command and then pulled back, moving out of the way so he could slam the door and open the window.

Sam turned on the engine and smiled over at Mercedes cheekily, "And always remember, baby, that somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight, someone's thinking of you and loving you tonight."

She smiled and shook her head, rolling her eyes a little, "You and that damn mouse."

Sam leaned out the window for one more quick kiss then threw the truck into gear, grinning at Mercedes as he drove away, headed south.


End file.
